Dr Valone - Free-Energy Devices, zero

Table of Contents
1. Introduction: "Tesla's Science of Energy" by Thomas Valone
SECTION I
History of Tesla's Early Electrical Life
2. Reflections of Tesla by His Descendant by William Terbo
3. Nikola Tesla - Electricity's Hidden Genius by Keith Tutt
4. Tesla's History at Niagara Falls by Tom Valone
5. Niagara Falls Centennial of the Birth of AC Electricity
SECTION II
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
27
39
51
79
Principles of Wireless Power Transmission
6. Effects of Tesla's Life and Electrical Inventions by Dr. Andrija Puharich
7. Prospects of Worldwide Wireless Power by Dr. Kurt Van Voorhies
8. On the Transmission of Electricity Without Wires by Nikola Tesla
9. True Meaning of the Wireless Transmission of Power by Toby Grotz
10. Tesla's Self-Sustaining Electrical Generator by Oliver Nichelson
11. Self-Sustained Longitudinal Waves by Dr. Robert Bass
12. Tesla and the Magnifying Transmitter by Dr. J. Corum & Ken Corum
13. Tesla's ELF Oscillator for Wireless Transmission by J. & K. Corum
14. Harnessing the Earth-Ionosphere Resonant Cavity" by Dr. E. Rauscher & W. Bise
SECTION III
8
89
147
161
165
179
187
193
219
233
Miscellaneous Articles and Tesla Reference Material
The Homopolar Generator: Tesla's Contribution by Thomas Valone
Tesla's Ionizer and Ozonator: Implications for Indoor Air Pollution by T. Valone
FBI Documents on Tesla
Selected Tesla Patents
Bibliography
Glossary of Tesla Technology Terms
Index
271
289
295
301
319
323
327
Introduction to Tesla's Science of Energy
Thomas Valone, Ph.D., P.E.
It is a great privilege to present this amazing collection of seminal articles, some of which
have never been published before, on Nikola Tesla's science of energy. As I'm finishing my
Ph.D. thesis on utilizing zero point energy, I realized that Tesla probably acknowledged the
same energy reservoir when he referred to harnessing "the very wheelwork of nature."1 The
visionary scientists who have contributed to this anthology offer a collective argument of what
Tesla meant by that phrase. Tesla also recognized that an atmospheric and a terrestrial storage
battery exists here on earth, just waiting to be tapped for the good of mankind. Therefore, this
is the wheelwork of nature that we want to explore in this book.
The first section of this anthology offers some historical Niagara Falls material and
biographical information about the life of Nikola Tesla with the contributions of William
Terbo, the grand-nephew of Tesla, Keith Tutt, author of The Scientist, the Madman, the Thief
& Their Light Bulb, and Dr. Andrija Puharich, whose unpublished biographical manuscript is
rich with personal insights. Puharich, a Yugoslavian, also develops with great care, the
background and unexpected uses for Tesla's Magnifying Transmitter (TMT). The second
section is devoted to Tesla's wireless transmission of electrical power, as distinguished from
wireless telegraphy for which he is also famous. It is surprisingly practical, even today, as the
brilliant minds in this book prove. Tesla was at least a century ahead of his time, however, so
people stole his ideas, left him penniless, and ignored his saintly concern for the human race. I
pray that as global community consciousness expands in the 21st century, Tesla's ideas about
sharing energy with the whole world will be more understood and appreciated. The third and
last section has miscellaneous articles about a few of Tesla's less well-known inventions,
including the two-rotor belted homopolar generator and an ozone generator.
Today we are faced with the consequences of the fateful decision in 1905 by J. P. Morgan
to abandon Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower project on Long Island, once he learned that it would
be designed mainly for wireless transmission of electrical power, rather than telegraphy. He is
reported to have complained that he would not be able to collect money from the customer in
any feasible way. This mercenary attitude by the world's richest man forced the nation to pay
for thousands of miles of transmission line wires, just so an electrical utility meter could be
placed on everyone's house. Today the U.S. Energy Association in Washington, DC trains
representatives from the former Russian states how to reliably do the same in their countries.
No one, except for the few great physicists like Drs. Rauscher, Corum, Bass, and Van
Voorhies found in this book, has realized that Tesla was very practical when he proposed the
resonant generation and wireless transmission of useful electrical power, after returning from
his experiments at Colorado Springs in 1900. For example, Professor Rauscher shows that the
earth's magnetosphere contains sufficient potential energy (at least 3 billion kilowatts) so that
the resonant excitation of the earth-ionosphere cavity can reasonably be expected to increase
the amplitude of natural "Schumann" frequencies, facilitating the capture of useful electrical
power. Tesla knew that the earth could be treated as one big spherical conductor and the
ionosphere as another bigger spherical conductor, so that together they have parallel plates
and thus, comprise a "spherical capacitor." Dr. Rauscher calculates the capacitance to be
about 15,000 microfarads for the complete earth-ionosphere cavity capacitor. W.O. Schumann
1
". .it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very
wheelwork of nature." -Tesla addressing the Amer. Inst. of Elec. Eng., 1891
is credited for predicting the "self-oscillations" of the conducting sphere of the earth,
surrounded by an an layer and an ionosphere in 1952, without knowing that Tesla had found
the earth s fundamental frequency fifty years earlier.2
In comparison to the 3 billion kW available from the earth system, it is possible to calculate
what the U.S. consumed in electricity. In 2000, about 11 Quads (quadrillion Btu) were
actually used by consumers for electrical needs, which is equal to 3.2 trillion kWh. Dividing
by the 8760 hours in a year, we find that only 360 million kW are needed on site to power our
entire country. This would still leave 2.6 billion kW for the rest of the world! The really
shameful U.S. scandal, unknown to the general public, is that out of the total electrical power
generated using wire transmission (about 31 Quads), a full 2/3 is totally wasted in "conversion
losses."3 (See the Electricity Flow Chart 1999, which contains US DOE/EIA data, updating
the Toby Grotz article in this book.) No other energy production system of any kind in the
world has so much wastefulness. Instead of trying to build 2 power plants per week (at 300
MW each) for the next 20 years (only to have a total of additional 6 trillion kWh available by
2020), as some U.S. government officials want to do, we simply need to eliminate the 7
trillion kWh of conversion losses in our present electricity generation modality. Tesla's
wireless transmission of power accomplishes this goal, better than any distributed generation.
As Tesla himself said,
"In the near future we shall see a great many uses of electricity... we shall be able to
disperse fogs by electric force and powerful and penetrative rays...wireless plants will be
installed for the purpose of illuminating the oceans...picture transmission by ordinary
telegraphic methods will soon be achieved... another valuable novelty will be a typewriter
electrically operated by the human voice... we shall have smoke annihilators, dust absorbers,
2
3
W.O. Schumann, Z. Naturforsch, 72, p. 149-154 and250-252,1952, (in German)
"National Energy Security Post 9/11" U.S. Energy Association, June, 2002, p. 34
10
sterilizers of water, aid, food and clothing... it will become next to impossible to contract
disease germ and country folk will go to town to rest and get well..."
If we use fuel to get our power, we are living on our capital and exhausting it rapidly.
This method is barbarous and wantonly wasteful and will have to be stopped in the interest
of coming generations. The inevitable conclusion is that water power is by far our most
valuable resource. On this humanity must build its hopes for the future. With its full
development and a perfect system of wireless transmission of the energy to any distance, man
will be able to solve all the problems of material existence. Distance, which is the chief
impediment to human progress, will be completely annihilated in thought, word, and action.
Humanity will be united, wars will be made impossible, and peace will reign supreme."4
The same article which contains this prophetic quotation from Tesla also notes that his
"World System" was conceptually based on three inventions of his:
1. The Tesla Transformer (Tesla coil)
2. The Magnifying Transmitter (transformer adapted to excite the earth)
3. The Wireless System (economic transmission of electrical energy without wires)
4
Nikola Tesla, 1900, as quoted in "Great Scientist, Forgotten Genius, Nikola Tesla" by Chris Bird
and Oliver Nichelson, New Age, #21, Feb. 1977, p. 42
11
Tesla states, "The first World System power plant can be put in operation in nine months.
With this power plant it will be practicable to attain electrical activities up to 10 million
horsepower (7.5 billion watts), and it is designed to serve for as many technical achievements
as are possible without due expense."5 (Note that Tesla's calculated power levels are
conservatively estimated, compared to Rauscher's calculations.)
The essay by Toby Grotz on the wireless transmission of power is a great introduction to
this wireless power system of Tesla. It contains all of the details for a preliminary test of the
system. His Figure 5 also illustrates the transmission of a high voltage pulse of electricity
equally around the world where it rebounds at the opposite side and returns to its source,
repeating the cycle many times. Grotz also worked with Dr. Corum on "Project TESLA,"
which was a business venture designed to implement the wireless transmission of electricity.
Dr. Corum notes in his introductory article on the ELF (extremely low frequency) oscillator
of Tesla's that the tuned circuit of Tesla's magnifying transmitter was the whole earthionosphere cavity. His second article presents probably the most complete article on Tesla's
magnifying transmitter that has ever been written. He explains in great detail the meaning of
magnification as Tesla intended, with examples and equations. Even if not an engineer, I
believe the reader will still appreciate the enthusiastic style with which the Corums describe
Tesla's developments regarding the TMT.
5
Ibid.,p.74
12
There are two diagrams produced at the turn of the century to help explain in simple terms
Tesla's wireless transmission of electrical power. The first is a mechanical "Analogy" that is
described in Corum's ELF disclosure article. The second is the "Realization" which illustrates
the usefulness of the power transmission concept.
Credit: Metascience Foundation
13
Tesla wrote, "That electrical energy can be economically transmitted without wires to any
terrestrial distance, I have unmistakably established in numerous observations, experiments
and measurements, qualitative and quantitative. These have demonstrated that it is practicable
14
to distribute power from a central plant in unlimited amounts, with a loss not exceeding a
small fraction of one per cent in the transmission, even to the greatest distance, twelve
thousand miles - to the opposite end of the globe."6
6
Nikola Tesla, "The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires as a Means for Furthering
Peace," Electrical World and Engineer. Jan. 7,1905, p. 21
15
up before discharging it as a pulse of electrical energy, a "longitudinal" acoustic-type of
compression -wave, rather than an electromagnetic Hertzian-type of transverse wave.
It is also understood that Tesla planned to include stationary resonant wave creation as part
of the wireless transmission of power. Examining the pair of 1900 patents #645,576 and
#649,621 each using the same figure on the first page, we find in the first patent that Tesla has
designed a quarter-wave antenna (50 miles of secondary coil wire for a 200 mile long
wavelength). More importantly is the sphere on the top which is supposed to be a conductive
surface on a balloon raised high enough to be radiating in "rarefied air." As Tesla states,
"That communication without wires to any point of the globe is practical with such
apparatus would need no demonstration, but through a discovery which I made I obtained
7
Nikola Tesla, "World System of Wireless Transmission of Energy," Telegraph and Telephone
Age,Oct. 16,1927, p. 457.
16
absolute certainty. Popularly explained it is exactly this: When we raise the voice and hear an
echo in reply, we know that t h e sound of the voice must have reached a distant wall, or
boundary, and must have been reflected from the same. Exactly as the sound, so an electrical
wave is reflected, and the same evidence which is afforded by an echo is offered by an
electrical phenomena known as a 'stationary' wave - that is, a wave with fixed nodal and
ventral regions. Instead of sending sound vibrations toward a distant wall, I have sent
electrical vibrations toward the remote boundaries of the earth, and instead of the wall, the
earth has replied. In place of an echo, I have obtained a stationary electrical wave, a wave
reflected from afar."8
It is also worth calling attention to Corum's disclosure article on the operation of an ELF
oscillator, he proposes that Tesla's x-ray patents were designed for the switching of high
voltages in the charging and discharging of the dome of the Wardenclyffe tower (patent
#1,119,732). Dr. Bass' article elaborates on the details of longitudinal waves that would be
created by such discharges. They have superior properties of transmission which normal radio
and television waves today do not possess. Nikola Tesla was very familiar with their benefits.
8
Nikola Tesla, "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy," Century, June, 1900
17
Tesla states, "As to the transmission of power through space, that is a project which I
considered absolutely certain of success long since. Years ago I was in the position to transmit
wireless power to any distance without limit other than that imposed by the physical
dimensions of the globe. In my system it makes no difference what the distance is. The
efficiency of the transmission can be as high as 96 or 97 per cent, and there are practically no
losses except such as are inevitable in the running of the machinery. When there is no
18
receiver there is no energy consumption anywhere. When the receiver is put on, it draws
power. That is the exact opposite of the Hertz-wave system. In that case, if you have a plant
of 1,000 horsepower (750 kW), it is radiating all the time whether the energy is received or
not; but in my system no power is lost. When there are no receivers, the plant consumes only a
few horsepower necessary to maintain the vibration; it runs idle, as the Edison plant when the
lamps and motors are shut off."9
These incredible facts are explained by Dr. Corum and Spainol elsewhere, "...the
distinction between Tesla's system and 'Hertzian' waves is to be clearly understood. Tesla,
and others of his day, used the term 'Hertzian waves' to describe what we call today, energy
transfer by wireless transverse electromagnetic (TEM) radiation... no one wants to stand in
front of a high power radar antenna. For these, E and H are in phase, the power flow is a 'real'
quantity (as opposed to reactive - Ed. note), and the surface integral of E x H (Poynting vector
- Ed. note) is nonzero. The case is not so simple in an unloaded power system, an RF
transformer with a tuned secondary, or with a cavity resonator. In these situations, the fields
are in phase quadrature, the circulating power is reactive and the average Poynting flux is zero
- unless a load is applied. They deliver no power without a resistive load. These are clearly
the power systems which Tesla created. The polyphase power distribution system was created
by him in the 1880s and inaugurated at Niagara Falls in 1895. The RF transformer was
invented and patented by him in the 1890s. Terrestrial resonances he experimentally
discovered at the turn of the century. And, for the next 40 years he tried to bring through to
commercial reality this global power system. Today, millions of us have working scale
models of it in our kitchens, while the larger version sits idle."10
Receiving coil a great distance from the transmitter
lighting a light bulb (white spot) in a test of Tesla's
wireless transmission of power in 1899.
9
Nikola Tesla, "Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the AIEE," May 18, 1917.
Corum, Corum, and Spaniol, "Concerning Cavity Q," Proceedings of the International Tesla
Symposium, 1988, p. 3-15
10
19
In the same "Cavity Q" article, the authors also settle the most common criticism of the
Tesla wireless power system regarding biological effects. Calculating the circulating reactive
power, they find a density of a microVAR per cubic meter at 7.8 Hz to be quite small, while it
is well-known that the frequency is very biologically compatible. The authors also look at the
present 100 V/m field and again find that raising it by a factor of 4 to 10 will pose no ill
effects. (Thunderstorms do it all of the time around the world.)
20
In 1925, an electrical engineer, John B Flowers, developed a proposal to test and
implement Tesla s Wireless Power System. He drafted the entire scheme for the Wardenclyffe
project and presented it to H. L. Curtis, physicist, and J. H. Dillinger, head of the Radio
Laboratory at the Bureau of Standards in Washington, DC. In a carefully worded 10-page
document, complete with schematic drawings of the earth imbued with Tesla standing waves
Flowers unvelied a plan for operating cars and planes powered by wireless electricity (Sketch
A). The plan was declined even though the mechanical test in Sketch B actually worked.
Below is a report on the test results of the mechanical model of Tesla's wireless system"Using the concepts in Sketch B, a mechanical oscillator arm was fastened to the tied
opening of a rubber balloon 20 inches in diameter. The oscillator arm was operated with an
21
electrical motor at 1750 RPM by means of an eccentric on the motor shaft. The balloon hung
free in the air. The rubber surface of the balloon represented the earth's conducting surface
and the air inside its insulating interior. The waves were propagated in the rubber surface at
the rate of 51 feet per second, the frequency of transmission was 29 cycles per second and the
wavelength was 21 inches. The mechanical oscillator was used in place of Tesla's electrical
oscillator as it presents an almost perfect analogy. Standing or stationary waves of the rubber
surface replace the electromagnetic waves of Tesla's system. By the test of this analog, the
operation of Tesla's system can be forecast. When the oscillator arm was set in motion by
operating the motor, there were three standing waves having six loops on the 'earth's surface'
all having the same amplitude of vibration! When the finger was pushed against one or more
loops, all the loops were reduced in amplitude in the same proportion showing the ability to
22
obtain all the power out at on or more points! The waves extended completely around the
'world' and returned to the sending station.""
Toby Grotz reports in his article that, in the 1980's, about 1/3 of the generated electrical
power in this country was lost in transmission. Today, a couple of decades later, we have
shamefully doubled our dependence on foreign oil and also doubled our electrical
transmission grid inefficiency. From 31 Quads generated, a full 2/3 is totally wasted in
"conversion losses."12 (This is being repeated for emphasis.) No other energy production
system of any kind in the world has so much wastefulness. Instead of trying to build 2 power
plants per week (at 300 MW each) for the next 20 years (only to have a total of additional 6
trillion kWh available by 2020), as some U.S. government officials want to do, we simply
need to eliminate the 7 trillion kWh of conversion losses in our present electricity generation
modality. This book scientifically proves that Testa's wireless transmission of power will
accomplish electrical distribution, better than centralized or even, dispersed generation.
Tesla discovered the evidence for charge clusters (as patented by Ken Shoulders and Hal
Puthoff), the overunity effects of air arcs (as experimentally verified by Dr. Peter Graneau and
George Hathaway), and the overunity effects of plasma glow discharge (as experimentally
verified and patented by Dr. Paulo Correa).
Many believe it's time for Westinghouse, General Electric, and the J.P. Morgan Foundation
to generously support a non-profit vehicle, such as a "Nikola Tesla Institute." to make amends
for the billions that they reaped from Tesla's inventions. Several are considering a class action
lawsuit, on behalf of Tesla's living descendants, to establish a trust fund. The reasons for
legally attacking the profiteers of Tesla's inventive genius to fulfill Tesla's fondest dream of
wireless transmission of power are the following. (This is a short list.)
1. General Electric. 1884: "Although Tesla had an antipathy toward the use of direct
current motors, he worked to improve Edison's dynamos. He was sure he could
increase the output, lower the cost, and decrease the maintenance. Edison replied, 'If
you can do this, young man, it will be worth $50,000 to you.' This would mean the
realization of a laboratory for Tesla and the means for a life of scientific exploration.
This was what he had visioned as the meaning of America's golden promise. He set to
work harder than ever, driving himself beyond his endurance, and as a result came up
with the design of twenty-four different types of standard machines, short cores, and
uniform patterns which were to replace the old ones. Edison was delighted with the
results, but there was no $50,000 in Tesla's pay envelope and after some time, Tesla
approached him for the money. It is said that Edison replied, "Tesla, you don't
understand our American humor." Tesla didn't."13 Tesla himself states this incident
more succinctly, "For nearly a year my regular hours were from 10:30 AM until 5
o'clock the next morning without a day's exception. Edison said to me: 'I have had
many hard-working assistants but you take the cake.' During this period, I designed
twenty-four different types of standard machines with short cores and of uniform
pattern which replaced the old ones. The Manager had promised me fifty thousand
dollars on the completion of this task but it turned out to be a practical joke. This gave
me a painful shock and I resigned my position."14 The legal team will also detail all
other legal nightmares caused by Edison, who continued to torture Tesla for years.
Such examples include the court order to prevent Tesla from using GE light bulbs for
11
J. B. Flowers, July 16,1925, as quoted in Exotic Research Report, July, 1999, p. 48
"National Energy Security Post 9/11" U.S. Energy Association, June, 2002, p. 34
13
Hunt and Draper, Lightning in His Hand, The Life Story of Nikola Tesla, Omni, 1981, p.42
14
Nikola Tesla, My Inventions, The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla, Hart Brothers, 1982, p. 72
12
23
2.
3.
the Pan American Exhibition of 1901 in Buffalo, NY and the egregious lies about a
'debt-ridden company' spread by Edison to depress Westinghouse stock, not to
mention the electrocution of dogs at state fairs by Edison to show the dangers of AC
electricity. It is ultimately possible that Edison can be implicated in the burning of
Tesla's NY laboratory in March, 1895, while he was out of the city. The motivation
for the crime was overwhelming: Edison (General Electric) lost the Columbian
Exposition light bulb contract to Westinghouse in 1892 to the tune of $400,000.
General Electric also lost the generator contract for the three initial 5,000 horsepower
generators at Niagara Falls in 1893 and was forced to secure a license for the use of
Tesla patents. Tesla (Westinghouse) completed the powerhouse in 1895 and residents
of Niagara Falls turned on the lights in April. 1895. proving the superiority of AC
electricity. A year later and 20 miles away, Buffalo, NY would be the first city in the
world to have electric street lamps. Meanwhile, GE lawyers could only repeatedly file
petty lawsuits to wear down Westinghouse, so that eventually, it was called, "The War
of the Currents." The uneducated Edison led the groundless and unscrupulous battle by
scaring the public with words like, "Just as certain as death, Westinghouse will kill a
customer within six months after he puts in a system of any size. He has got a new
thing and it will require a great deal of experimenting to get it working practically. It
will never be free from danger."15
Westinghouse. 1888: Tesla was awarded patents on the AC system of motors and
generators in May, 1888. "Within a few months, Westinghouse acquired the patented
American rights and hired Tesla at a salary of $2,000 a month to work in Pittsburgh on
the development of the polyphase system. Tesla's system for the transmission and
distribution of alternating current, including the induction motor, was covered by 40
historic patents. His motor was the missing link for today's alternating current system
of centralized electric generating stations capable of efficiently and economically
distributing electricity over long distances. It is widely believed that Tesla received a
million dollars for his patents and that Westinghouse was to pay Tesla $1 per
horsepower for each AC motor produced. However, according to Westinghouse
historical records, the contract specified that Tesla was to receive about $60,000 and
earn $2.50 per horsepower for each motor produced. Four years after the contract was
signed, it was rumored, the accrued royalties totaled approximately $12 million.
Westinghouse was advised to get rid of the royalty contract when his form was in
financial trouble and the fate of his company was at stake. So Westinghouse told Tesla
he did not think he could honor the royalty clause...The 1897 annual report of
Westinghouse shows that Tesla was paid $216,600 for outright purchase of the
polyphase system patents."16 Over 110 years later, the amount of profit that
Westinghouse has realized from Tesla's polyphase system has to be embarrassingly
huge amount of money. Today, in comparison, pharmaceutical companies routinely
ask Congress to extend the term of their patents beyond 20 years, just so they can
"recover" more profit.
J. Pierpont Morgan. 1901: "It has been stated that Morgan simply gave Tesla $ 150,000
with no strings attached. Actually, there were plenty of strings attached. Morgan
delayed his check for a few months. Finally it came with the stipulation that fifty-one
percent of the patents relating to wireless telephony and telegraphy, not only those to
15
John Shatlan, "Tesla: Scientific Superman who Aided Westinghouse Industry," Pittsburgh
Business Journal, July 19,1982 and the Tesla Journal, 1986, p. 60
16
Ibid., p. 60 (Ed. note: the same facts are also found in O'Neill's biography, Prodigal Genius.)
24
be used is the present but the ones to be developed a l l were to be in Morgan's name.
The $150,000 was well-secured... On March 1, 1901, Tesla sent to Morgan his
contract, signing over the fifty-one percent interest in his patents and inventions and in
any future ones relating to electric lighting and wireless telegraphy or
telephony... Morgan's $150,000 was woefully inadequate when Tesla considered all
that must be done, but it was a start. He secured a tract of land on Long Island, about
sixty miles from New York City, though an arrangement with James S. Warden. Tesla
had pictured to Warden a glowing and convincing real estate boom in that site,
employing several thousand people who would build their homes on the adjacent land.
Warden cooperated to the extent of offering two hundred acres of land for the use of
the scientist, twenty acres already cleared and with a well one hundred feet deep. By
July 23, 1901, work had started on the project with the roads cleared and the right of
way in order. Thus, within a little less than five months after the contract with Morgan
was signed, work was started on Tesla's giant project."17 The rest of the horror story is
history, as only the tower frame was erected in the next year. No more money was
forthcoming for the project that Morgan initiated, even when the equipment cost alone
cost about $200,000. Morgan believed that he would "have nothing to sell except
antennas (and refused) to contribute to that charity."18 Tesla tried and tried for years
until in 1917 the U.S. government blew up the abandoned Wardenclyffe tower because
suspected German spies were seen "lurking" around it. With Edison as his willing ally,
Morgan even publicly discredited Tesla's name, so that all of the five school textbook
publishers of the time removed any reference to him. Any wonder why even today,
100 years later, hardly anyone knows who Tesla is?
Upon reading the rest of this book, all of us who contributed to this book know that the
engineers and physicists of the 21st century will come to appreciate the benefits of the
tremendously efficient (about 95%) wireless transmission of power. In terms of today's
systems theory, Tesla understood that it is vital to "increase human energy" in order to
maximize the quality of life worldwide.19 (See Puharich article for a detailed analysis of this
Tesla theme.) In terms of economic theory, many countries will benefit from this service. At
first, receiving stations will be needed. Just like television and radio, only an energy receiver
is required, which may eventually be built into appliances, so no power cord will be
necessary! Just think, monthly electric utility bills will be optional, like "cable TV."
Tesla was an electrical genius who revolutionized our world in a way that DC power could
never have accomplished, since the resistance of any transmission lines, (except perhaps,
superconductive ones), is prohibitive for direct current. He deserved much better treatment
from all three of the tycoons described above, than to spend the last 40 years of his life in
abject poverty. However, he was too much of a gentleman to hold a grudge. Instead, regarding
the magnifying transmitter, Tesla wrote in his autobiography, "I am unwilling to accord to
some small-minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts.
These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. My project was retarded
by laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time. But the
same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success."20
17
Hunt and Draper, p. 136
18
H.W. Jones, "Nikola Tesla, Generator of Social Change," Proc. of Inter. Tesla
Sym.,'86, p. 1-89
19
Nikola Tesla "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy" The Century Illustrated
Monthly
Magazine June 1900, p. A-109-A-152
20
Nikola Tesla, My Inventions, p. 91
25
This book is being published in time for the Wurdenclyffe Tower Centennial. (1903-2003)
which to many, signifies an extraordinary cause to remember and resurrect. Let us fulfill this
prophesy of Tesla, making it a triumphal success, by supporting a philanthropic, international
wireless power station to benefit the whole world. The scientists who contributed to this
anthology are available to make such a global wonder a reality. The benefits, immediately
alleviating electric power shortages everywhere, are too numerous to count. (For example, in
Tesla's homeland, the Electric Power Company of Serbia will raise their monthly rates by
50% on the day this book goes to the publisher.) Are you willing to help make a world of
difference?
(Editorial comments are inserted in many of the following contributed articles. They represent
my scientific viewpoints, which may help other researchers. You can recognize these
additions by the familiar ending: "- Ed. note.")
All patents cited in this book are available from www.uspto.gov or even better, from
www.GetThePatent.com where a free viewer is available
http://www.catesianinc.com/products/cpcviewax/install/ or at last resort, send $3 to the
USPTO, Box 9, Washington, DC 20231 with the patent number. - Ed. note
Thomas Valone can be reached through Integrity Research Institute, a nonprofit, 501(c)3
corporation, located at 1220 L St. NW, Suite 100-232, Washington, DC 20005,
www.IntegrityResearchInstitute.org and iri@erols.com
26
SECTION I
History
"This coil.. .shown in my patents Nos. 645,576 and 649,621, in the form of a spiral, was, as you
see, in the form of a cone...in an inductive coupling which was not close —we call it now a loose
coupling - but free to permit a great resonant rise. That was the first single step, as I say, toward
the evolution of an invention which I have called my 'magnifying transmitter.' That means, a
circuit connected to ground and to the antenna, of a tremendous electromagnetic momentum and
small damping factor, with all the conditions so determined that an immense accumulation of
electrical energy can take place." - Nikola Tesla (Nikola Tesla on His Work with Alternating
Currents, Leland Andersen, Editor, Sun Publishing, 1992, p. 72)
27
2 Reflections from Tesla's Descendent
William H. Terbo
Reprinted from Proceedings of the International Tesla Symposium, 1990
This is the fourth biennial Tesla Symposium. I've had the pleasure of making some opening
remarks at each one. My appearance here has a twofold purpose. First, as a descendant
of Nikola Tesla, I hope to provide a link between the man we honor and those of us who are
here to honor him. Second, as a representative of the Tesla Memorial Society and its
Honorary Chairman, I want to reaffirm the cooperation between the International Tesla
Society and the Tesla Memorial Society in moving toward our common aims. Simply put,
they are honoring and perpetuating the memory and ideals of Nikola Tesla through
appropriate cultural and academic activities. The Tesla Symposium is a worthy representation of these aims.
This morning I'd like to touch briefly on three topics. First, to re cap some of the events
and accomplishments of the two years since our last symposium which have reflected
positively on the name and reputation of Nikola Tesla—plus mention of two or three current
projects. Second, I ' d like to share some historical detail on the original
Tesla/Westinghouse power generating system at Niagara Falls. And lastly, I ' d like to
provide some personal thoughts about the private character of Nikola Tesla.
Before I begin, let me ask the Executive Secretary of the Tesla Memorial Society, Nicholas
Kosanovich, to stand and be recognized. Nick, more than anyone, is responsible for the
continued success of the Society. He does yeoman work. I don't know how he does it, I
certainly haven't been able to get into harness that way.
Recent Events and Accomplishments
First, let me talk about some of the events and accomplishments that have happened
recently. They all tend to promote the name of Tesla. What we are trying to do is gain the
recognition for Tesla that he deserves and these all work to build toward that aim.
Pennsylvania and New York have issued proclamations naming July 10 as Nikola Tesla
Day. At least six U. S. Representatives and Senator Carl Levin of Michigan have made
speeches in Congress commemorating Tesla's July 10 Birthday.
When
we get copies of the Congressional Record, we will certainly make them available to the
International Tesla Society. There may be other recognition of this day and we will just
have to wait on them. Sometimes we only hear about the proclamations of various States
after the fact.
Another item that has been a long time in the works and has come to fruition is a plaque of
Tesla at the United Engineering Center Headquarters [345 West 47th Street, New York,
NY 10017] near the United Nations in Manhattan (Figure 1). That is also the International
Headquarters of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. They occupy three
or four floors of that building. This is a large plaque, more than one person can lift. It has
been put in one of the most desirable locations in the building. It's in a hall of other awards
and plaques that connects the lobby and the first floor, the most desirable and prestigious
location there. It was originally a gift of the Yugoslav Government and meant to be placed
on the New Yorker Hotel, where Tesla died. The New Yorker Hotel, of course, now is a
dormitory for Dr. Moon's Unification Church, and there has always been some difficulty
in getting cooperation on that account. So I think a better solution was to have
29
it installed at the Headquarters of the IEEE and, with their assistance, this was done.
Another plaque was just installed in Belgrade, about 100 years after the fact, to
commemorate Tesla's visit to that city in 1892.
The IEEE Power Engineering Society has as their principal annual award, the Tesla Award
and Medal (see A-4), which has been issued each year since 1976. In 1989 the recipient
was Dietrich R. Lambrecht, an engineer working on turbines for Siemens in Germany. In
1990, just recently, the winner of the reward was Gordon R. Slemon [A-4].
In June 1990, the IEEE and the New York Power Authority dedicated the Adams HydroElectric Generating Station in Niagara Falls. They designated it as an "Engineering
Milestone," as this is the original plant built to create Alternating Current from Niagara
Falls in 1895. The power was first generated in 1896. This is a further indication of the
support that we are getting from the IEEE. It certainly is welcome, because having the
scientific community support the name of Tesla is always very important.
Figure 1. A plaque honoring the achievements of Nikola Tesla. Now located in the United
Engineering Headquarters in Manhattan, it was originally to be placed at the Hotel New
Yorker, where Tesla had been a long time resident. - William Terbo
John Wagner has been one of our most active members and is now taking charge of the
Youth Division of the Society. He's done a number of things that are worth remarking.
First, he's had a bust of Tesla created (Figure 2). It is a very good likeness of Tesla in his
prime, in his late thirties. The bust has been purchased by donation and is available to be
given to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. It presently is in the Engineering
Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It is a fairly costly item and money
has been raised by a number of parties including the rock group that goes by the name
"Tesla." It's a wonderful spectrum of support that we get. Here is a group that looked
upon Tesla as being an outsider who had difficulty in making his way and I think heavy
metal rock groups might be considered outsiders having a difficult time making their way.
So, they've taken the name, it's not an ethnic connection and so this is really quite generous
on their part. They're quite successful, incidentally.
30
Trying to get the Smithsonian Institution to recognise Tesla has been difficult because their
tendency is toward Edison, that is, whenever there is a controversy between Edison and
Tesla, the Smithsonian tends to side with Edison. In conjunction with this, John has been
instrumental in starting a campaign of signatures of people to make a petition. His aim is
to gather 100,000 signatures. Although it sounds like a formidable number, he's got 37,000
already. These signatures are gathered not only by professional institutions, colleges and
universities, but by people who are attending the rock concerts by the "Tesla" group.
They've actually been responsible for 70 to 75 percent of those signatures. The way they're
going, they WILL collect the 100,000.
Figure 2. John Wagner's bust of Tesla in his late thirties. - John Wagner
Another element John has developed for promoting the name of Tesla and for trying to get
the attention of the Smithsonian are top quality sweat shirts and T shirts he has had made
that say on them "Bust the Smithsonian." He has done this because the Smithsonian has not
yet agreed to accept the Tesla bust. Incidentally, over 250 of these items have already been
sold, with all proceeds over actual costs going into a fund for the purchase of additional
busts.
Further, John has been carrying on an effort to enlist the support of university level
educational institutions to properly recognize the scientific contributions of Nikola Tesla.
He has encouraged his students in a letter writing campaign that has produced suggestions
to University Physics and Electrical Engineering Department Heads as well as the CEO's
of 51 power generating Utilities.
31
Tesla Biographies
Although its schedule was previously unannounced, I can now mention that Yugoslav TV
is now midway through a process of making six, 40-minute biographical episodes on
Tesla's life. Those are going to be in Serbo-Croatian, but probably will be subtitled in
English. In addition, a 60-minute fully English language film version is planned to be
available. I understand that three of the six, 40-minute segments are already in the can and
that they are aiming for a 1991 screening date which will commemorate his 135th birth date
anniversary. In addition, Henry Golas, who has the film rights to Margaret Cheney's book
"Tesla: Man Out Of Time," is still proceeding with his efforts to get that into production.
I know of at least two other partially funded videos for public TV that are in the preproduction stage.
In the area of books, Margaret Cheney has indicated that a new hard bound edition of her
book "Tesla: A Man Out Of Time" will be available shortly. Another book is being written
by Dusko Doder, a very prominent newspaperman. He was the "U S News and World
Report" Bureau Chief in Beijing at the time of the unrest and is now based in Belgrade,
acting as Bureau Chief for Moscow and Belgrade. He has already published a book which
has been quite successful, called "Gorbachev: Heretic In The Kremlin" which has been well
received and is now starting on a biography of Tesla. A third book, by a young woman,
Carol Costa, is a biography that is oriented toward youngsters, that is now in the process
of being published.
"Nikola," a play written by one of our members, a young professional playwright, Karen
A. Klami, is a dramatization of crucial events Tesla's younger life. It has had several
professional readings and a commercial production is being organized. I don't know
whether it will appear on Broadway, but it will appear someplace.
As far as the Tesla Memorial Society is concerned, we've released our Tesla Journal double
issue for 1989/90. It is available in the bookstore. It's a good solid piece of scholarship.
The Nikola Tesla Museum
Dr. Marincic will be speaking later in the program and will discuss the Tesla Museum in
Belgrade. Certain renovation has been done so it's in really top shape. I think this is
important because the archives are there and climate control in that building has to be very
carefully monitored. I think that's the essence of the renovation that they've done. It's a
beautiful mansion from the turn of the century, like one of the three or four story granite
mansions that were once seen on 5th Avenue in New York City (Figure 3). Also in
Belgrade, the power generating companies of Yugoslavia have organized their new institute
for research. It's in a new building and named "The Tesla Institute," as are most of the
power companies in Yugoslavia named after Tesla.
Long Term Projects
The Tesla Memorial Society has three long term projects that are not expected to happen
right away and are going to require a lot of long term effort. First, there is solid planning
going ahead for a museum at Niagara Falls which will incorporate some of the subterranean
tunneling that was done for the original power installation (Figure 4). There are still
remnants of the old power plant down there and it can make an interesting tourist attraction,
almost like investigating tombs or something of that sort. It has all been sealed up for
decades. These tunnels can be the basis for a tourist attraction that will certainly mention
Tesla prominently.
32
Shoreham, Long Island, is the site of the Wardenclyffe Tower that Tesla built in the early
part of this century. The foundation of the tower is still there and the old laboratory
building next to it is intact and being used for storage. We are trying to get a formal
dedication of that site. The building and surrounding complex is privately owned by AgfaGevaert, the big Belgian photochemical company, and is no longer used for production.
I t ' s a large industrial complex of many acres, and the site occupies only one acre or so on
the side, so we may have a possibility of getting their cooperation. It won't happen
overnight, that's for sure.
Of course we're looking forward to 1993, the 50th Anniversary of Tesla's death, as an
appropriate time to have an exhibition at the Smithsonian. Because of the bent of the
Smithsonian, that's going to take a lot of work, but I think something will happen and we're
marshalling our forces.
Figure 3. The Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. — Nikola Tesla Museum
The Tesla/Westinghouse Power Generating System
Let me continue now with just a few words about Niagara Falls. I happened to acquire a
copy of the very enlightening 1901 promotional brochure from the Niagara Falls Power
Company, that was made as a presentation in getting new subscribers to their system. The
real age of electric power, in the modern sense, started in Niagara Falls on November 16,
1896, when the first power generated by the Tesla/Westinghouse AC system was delivered
to Buffalo, New York. This was the culmination of three years of design and construction.
By 1901, according to this booklet, the Niagara Falls Power Company (the predecessor of
the Niagara Mohawk Company) had about 45,000 Effective Horsepower capacity and was
marketing this new source of power to industries and municipalities in the area. In their
brochure, they reviewed the quantity of power used and the applications for each of about
35 customers that they identified by name. By today's standards the quantities seem trivial
but, as with the dollar, in 1901 a Horsepower WAS a Horsepower.
33
Some of the companies listed were:
The Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which is the predecessor of Alcoa. They were using
5,000 horsepower for the electrolytic production of metallic aluminum. They were the
largest commercial user (as opposed to municipalities).
Carborundum, who used 2,000 horsepower for electrolytic production of abrasives.
A company called Castner Electrolytic Alkali Company (there is a chemical process called
the Castner Process) used 2,400 horsepower for electrolytic production of pure caustic
soda.
Union Carbide was making calcium carbide, using the power for electric furnaces.
34
Personal Thoughts
Let me t a l k for just a moment about the character of Tesla. Much has been written about
the public persona of Nikola Tesla, usually dealing with the creation and implementation
of his inventions and discoveries. They show a man of intellect, dedication and
perseverance, but an over abundance of these quantities creates a picture of a somber and
sober person with a single-mindedness that seems to preclude a more human side.
Much has also been speculated on the private side of Nikola Tesla. This speculation was
much influenced by his fastidious dress, his formal manners and his precise writing style,
Aside from the more outrageous speculations, the conclusion was usually drawn that this
was an introverted and driven workaholic, without a fully developed personal side.
However, put in the context of the times, dress, manners and precision in writing were
really hallmarks of the decades on either side of the turn of the century. We have very few
instances of verifiable anecdotes from his closest friends because such gossip rarely found
its way into print. (What a change from today's celebrity bashing.) But, in context or out
of context, these characterizations of Tesla's private personality have been perpetuated.
Figure 5. The 1901 Promotional Brochure of the Niagara Falls Power Company. Niagara Falls Power Company
Now, over a period of time, I have thought of this and it occurred to me that I may very
well have a unique insight into Tesla's private personality through a comparison with my
father. The parallels in their lives far exceed the common gene pool formed by their blood
relationship. (My Grandmother was Tesla's sister, Angelina.)
35
Except for being 30 years apart, the list of parallels is really staggering:
Lika, the Croatian county of their birth in what is now Yugoslavia, had a special status and
responsibility for Serbs as it was part of the Austro-Hungarian military frontier. The
Ottoman Empire's boarder was that close to Vienna, a situation that lasted for a period of
hundreds of years.
Both Tesla and my father were sons of Serbian Orthodox priests and that's a very severe
and demanding faith. (I don't know if anybody here is Serbian Orthodox, I'd like to say
that I'm Episcopal for that very good reason.)
Both received a technical education far from home, which was necessary in those days.
There was no higher education readily available in the provinces. You had to go, as in my
fathers case, to Budapest.
Both became engineers and worked for similar lengths of time for the Budapest Telephone
System.
Doth emigrated to the United States at 28 years of age.
And, as inventors, made their most important inventions in their middle to late thirties.
Both exhibited qualities of dedication and patience and modesty and a philosophical turn of
mind.
Both were strong and vigorous and died at the age of eighty seven.
But, both suffered from a certain naivete, particularly in business.
Both acquired, but let slip from their hands, a considerable fortune.
Now, I knew my father pretty well, even better from the perspective of the years since his
passing And 1 see a human being with human qualities and frailties, and it seems reasonable
to attribute to Tesla some measure of these same qualities and frailties.
This brings me to an unexpected point. My father had a sense of humor and therefore,
Tesla must have had a sense of humor that has been overlooked in the myth of his private
self. (There certainly aren't any books that are titled "Favorite Jokes of Nikola Tesla".)
My father was a story teller, and usually was recalling things that happened when he was
a boy. I heard them all dozens of times. I can't repeat them because they'd lose their
essence in his way of telling them but my father could never finish these stories without
collapsing in laughter. He would get into the memory of some story and would just get
helpless with laughter. We all knew what the end of it was and he'd struggle through
ultimately. It was an infectious laugh and we didn't mind the same old stories. I still
remember them clearly.
And so, in closing, I just want to say that I've taken a long way around, and had a chance
to remember my father. But the next time that you think of Nikola Tesla, that discoverer
of great concepts, think of him convulsed in gales of laughter, trying to tell some boyhood
yarn.
36
About the Author
Born April 10, 1930, to Nicholas J. and Alice H. Terbo in Detroit, Michigan, William H.
Terbo is a Founding Director and Honorary Chairman of the Tesla Memorial Society. His
father, Nicholas Terbo (Nikola Trbojevich), a world known research engineer, mathematician nd inventor, was nephew and friend of Nikola Tesla. Mr. Trbojevich held nearly 200
U.S. and foreign patents, principally in the field of gear design, including the basic patent
for the Hypoid Gear - used on nearly every automobile in the world.
Mr. Terbo's father modeled his professional life after Nikola Tesla, a man 30 years his
senior. He was the only family member to join Tesla in the United States, immigrating in
1914, 30 years after his uncle. With such a family history in science and engineering, Mr.
Terbo's higher education was a matter of "which engineering school" rather than "what
area of concentration." He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Mechanical
Engineering, an area close to his father's specialty.
Mr. Terbo began his professional career as a Stress Analyst in Detroit before moving to Los
Angeles where he specialized in computer oriented systems for the Space Program. Since
1973, he has been involved in Strategic Planning and Market Research for the
Telecommunications Industry. Working as the Manager of Market Planning and Research
for RCA Global Communications, Inc., and more recently as the Senior Staff Member for
Corporate Development with MCI International, Inc.
William Terbo can be reached at 21 Maddaket, Southwyck Village, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
37
3 Nikola Tesla - Electricity's Hidden
Genius
Keith Tutt Copyright © Keith Tutt, 2001
Imprinted from The Scientist, the Madman, the Thief & Their Light Bulb, Simon &
Schuster Pub.
"I have harnessed the cosmic rays and caused them to operate a motive device."
Nikola Tesla, The Brooklyn Eagle, 10 July 1931
"Era many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by power obtainable at any point in the universe. Is
this energy static or kinetic? If static, our hopes are in vain; if kinetic — and this we know it is for certain — then
it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of
nature."
Nikola Tesla, "Experiments With Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency," 1904
In 1884 a young Croatian immigrant stepped ashore at the Castle Garden Immigration
()ffice in Manhattan, New York. He was a sharp-featured 27-year-old with a glamorous shock
of black hair, named Nikola Tesla. In his coat pockets he carried a few coins, some papers
with drawings and calculations on them and, perhaps most importantly of all, a letter of
introduction to Thomas Alva Edison, the incumbent king of electricity.
Behind Tesla there was already an extraordinary past filled with invention, hardship and a
series of near fatal accidents and afflictions. Ahead of him lay a future in which many of the
things he had already imagined would come to pass for the benefit of the world. And yet his
greatest wish — of freely available electrical energy for all — would be denied him.
Blessed with an extraordinary mind capable of extravagant and yet detailed visual
imagination, Tesla was a complex prodigy who suffered from strange over-sensitivities and
symptoms of what we would now call an obsessive compulsive disorder. As well as one of the
most highly developed forms of photographic memory, Tesla claimed to possess a
superhuman, almost supernatural, power of hearing which enabled him to hear conversations
hundreds of yards away and - in a few instances - to hear thunder up to 500 miles away.
During a teenage nervous breakdown Tesla could hardly go out of his home, as he had
become hyperaware of sounds, atmospheric pressures and sunlight. He seemed to feel the
impact of natural phenomena directly within his body. His compulsive side brought long
periods of needing to count physical actions he performed - steps along a road, mouthfuls of
food, even breaths: he behaved like a self-monitoring machine, a mobile laboratory which his
psyche had decided to investigate. Later, when he was able to bring the exercise of his will
power to bear over these compulsions, he would make good use of this internal observation.
Invention came naturally to Tesla from an early age. When he was five he modelled a
waterwheel which worked without the use of any conventional blades; he was later to recall
this when he designed his bladeless turbine [1] He designed a device in which imprisoned
beetles powered a wheel with the flapping of their wings. He tried to fly from the top of the
family house using an umbrella - a feat which nearly killed him. He tried to take apart and
reconstruct his grandfather's clocks, a skill which had its limits: "hi the former I was always
successful, but often failed in the latter."[2]
39
In 1875, at the age of eighteen, he enrolled at the Austrian Polytechnic Shool in Graz,
Austria, where he studied mathematics, physics and mechanics. He was determined to
complete the two-year course in one year, and worked most days from three in the morning
until eleven at night. One aspect of his compulsion was a need to complete anything he had
started.
While it later became a helpful force within his creative production, it often drove him to
despair. At college he had started to read the works of Voltaire when he discovered that there
were nearly one hundred volumes in small print. Such was the strange conscience of his
psyche that he could not rest until all were read.
It was during his time at Graz that his ideas about alternating current first started to surface.
Professor Poeschl, a German, was Tesla's inspirational teacher of theoretical and experimental
physics. One day Poeschl showed the class anew electrical machine that had just arrived from
Paris: called a Gramme Machine, it could function as both a direct current (DC) motor and a
dynamo. Tesla reported later that he felt strangely excited by the machine's arrival. When it
was operating the machine's brushes sparked wildly. Tesla suggested to his teacher that the
machine could be improved if the commutator were done away with, and if it were to run
instead by alternating current. He didn"t know how this might be done, and yet he had an
instinct that somehow the answer might lie within his own mind. The professor was less
confident: "Mr Tesla may accomplish great things but he will never do this. It would be
equivalent to converting a steadily pulling force, like gravity, into a rotary effort. It is a
perpetual motion machine, an impossible idea."[3] However, Tesla's need to complete things
would not let this idea rest: "With me it was a sacred vow, a question of life and death. I knew
that I would perish if failed."
With this motivation burning away inside him, it was a few more years before finally a
burst of creativity hit the young Tesla. He was taking a walk in Graz"s city park with Anital
Szigety, a mechanic friend, at the same time reciting a passage from Goethe"s Faust. Then, as
Tesla reported it: "The idea came like a flash of lightning, and in an instant the truth was
revealed." Tesla started to draw in the dirt with a stick for his friend to see: "See my motor
here; watch me reverse it! [4]
He had hit upon a whole new system of electrical operation based on the totally novel
concept of producing a rotating magnetic field by running two or more alternating currents out
of phase with each other. The rotating magnetic field completely did away with the need for
the conventional brush contacts and commutator of the normal DC motor. In his creative flash
he had discovered multiphase alternating current (AC) - a leap forward which would make
possible the high-voltage widescale generation, transmission and distribution of electricity
that is still the worldwide standard today. In that same moment he had also shown Professor
Poeschl the error of his skeptical ways. Over the next days, Tesla designed most of the new
machines and devices required by the multiphase AC system: particularly the induction motor
and all the equipment required for the generation and supply of AC electricity. He wrote of his
work: "It was a mental state of happiness about as complete as I have ever known in life.
Ideas came in an interrupted stream, and the only difficulty I had was to hold them fast." His
work also provided an example of his extreme gift of visualization: "The pieces of apparatus I
conceived were to me absolutely real and tangible in every detail, even to the minutest marks
and signs of wear. I delighted in imagining the motors constantly running."[5]
As well as an extraordinary intuitive gift for new technological ideas, Tesla was blessed
with this extreme form of "mental practicality", by which he was able to save himself many
hours of wasted effort in engineering time. Instead of building real, physical devices, he
would usually design and construct them in the workshop of his creative imagination. In this
virtual testbed, he would set them running, later returning to see what had happened, what had
40
worn or broken down, what had functiones correctly or incorrectly. He would then make
imaginative improvements in order to make the devices more efficient or effective, before
continuing this refining process. When he was absolutely happy with his mental creation, he
would then, and only then, commit his idea to physical reality. It was this gift above all others
that enabled him to be so prolific as an inventor.
When in 1884 the confident Tesla set off for America, however, with the AC system and its
components firmly embedded in his mind, he had little idea of the difficult path that lay
between him and acceptance of his technology - a path that threatened to both make and break
the young Tesla.
The War of the Currents
Straight off the ship in New York, Tesla headed for the offices of the Edison Electric
Company, where he found the 32-year-old dynamo of the new world Thomas Edison. Already
the inventor of hundreds of products and the owner or co-owner of many electrically related
companies, Edison was a self-educated genius with the street smart of an alley cat. Tesla
presented his letter of recommendation to the short-tempered Edison - a letter from Charles
Batchelor, one of Edison's trusted officers in Europe. The note, addressed to Edison, was
entirely flattering: "I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young
man."
Within moments Tesla was attempting to explain his new induction motor and the
development of the multiphase alternating current, but was stopped dead in his tracks by an
angry Edison. His response was short and sharp: "Spare me that nonsense. It's dangerous.
We're set up for direct current in America. People like it, and it's all I'll ever fool with."[6]
Edison was totally opposed to anything but his own DC system, believing, erroneously as
it turned out, that his incandescent light bulbs would not work with AC current. Nevertheless
he offered the crestfallen Tesla a job on his workshop crew. It was hardly the last he was to
hear of Tesla's AC breakthrough. Once Tesla left his employ - following a broken promise
over a $50,000 bonus owing to Tesla - he would team up with George Westinghouse, the
Pittsburgh business magnate. While Tesla was a scientific genius of the highest level, he faced
a continual challenge to fund the great, but expensive, plans that his imagination provided.
When he joined George Westinghouse in 1888 to bring AC electricity to the whole of
America, he signed a contract, which gave him royalties of $2.50 for each horsepower of
generating capacity licensed. The War of the Currents - the battle to electrify America - had
begun in earnest.
While Edison had managed to electrify the wealthier parts of New York with a series of
local coal- and steam-driven generating stations, his stubbornness could not allow him to think
that there might be a more electrically efficient and more cost-efficient solution. With the
backing of Pierpont Morgan, one of the wealthiest and most ruthless businessmen of his time,
Edison had pinned his colors firmly to the DC mast, and there was no turning back. For him it
was a battle to the death - although the fatalities were, in the end, innocent and unlikely
victims.
In the War of the Currents Edison became a sinister P.T. Barnum figure: dogs and cats
were collected off the streets and publicly electrocuted by Edison to demonstrate that AC
electricity was dangerous - even lethal. Edison even convinced the New York State prison
service to employ early AC electrical equipment in the world's first electrocution of a
convicted murderer. AC was so dangerous, he contended, that all it was good for was killing.
Despite Edison's propaganda, the 1893 Chicago World's Fair saw Westinghouse and Tesla
emerge as victors in the War of the Currents, with a combination of showmanship and
41
technical superiority. The same year Westinghouse was awarded the contract to manufacture
the generating equipment for the electrification of Niagara Falls, and Tesla was to be in charge
of the design. In a compromise, General Electric, which had taken over the Edison Electric
Company, was to supply the transmission and distribution lines for the twenty-six miles from
Niagara to Buffalo - the nearest major city. Yet even General Electric's proposal was now
based on alternating current technology. For Tesla this was a double triumph: not only had
alternating current been accepted for its technical superiority, but he had also been given a
strange confirmation of the power of his mind.
At the time he had modeled his first waterwheels, while in school in Gospic, Croatia, he
had seen some pictures of Niagara Falls in a school book. He had experienced a powerful
reaction, and - as often - further associated creative pictures had appeared in his mind. He
saw a huge wheel with water cascading over it. He told his uncle that one day he would travel
to America and make this waterwheel. Some thirty years later his prophecy had come true.
By 1897 his royalties from AC were already worth some $12 million, and had they
continued they could have reached billions. Tesla would have been the Bill Gates of his day. It
was not to be. Westinghouse came under pressure from his commercial enemies. The General
Electric Company managed a dirty tricks campaign that lowered the Westinghouse
Company's stock and made it close to impossible for it to continue independently. George
Westinghouse had to go back to Tesla and ask him to forego all his royalties -past, present and
future - in order that the company could survive independently. Tesla, who believed that
Westinghouse could still fulfill his dream of AC for all, gave up his right to the millions he
was due, and accepted a single payment of just $216,600 for the outright purchase of all his
AC patents. A large sum, perhaps, but not enough to independently fund Tesla's researches
into the even more radical energy technologies that were already spinning around his mind.
Westinghouse survived to fight another day with General Electric over the country's
seemingly infinite energy needs, even though court fights over patents would sap the company
financial reserves for many years to come. From that time on it would be others who would
benefit from Tesla's genius.
Forgotten Genius?
To demonstrate the genius of Tesla, we only need to list some of his patented inventions
apart from those related to AC electricity: the arc light; the speedometer; the first radiocontrolled boat; superconductivity; and the first tube light. He also laid the ground for radar,
cryogenics, wireless radio and telephony, the use of X-rays and our understanding of the sun's
cosmic rays. Cosmic rays were at the heart of some of Tesla's later ideas about energy
production. In his own time, though, there were few who could accept his concept that the sun
threw out showers of tiny, highly energetic, fast-moving particles. Although no record
remains of his methods he claimed that he had measured their energy at hundreds of millions
of volts. [7] Thirty years after he first aired his controversial theories, two Nobel laureate
physicists, Dr Robert A. Millikan and Arthur H. Compton, admitted their debt to Tesla's
work, even though they disagreed violently about the nature of the rays - whether they were
in fact photon (light) rays or, as Tesla had believed, charged particles. Millikan, though,
managed to measure their potential at 64 million volts, close to Tesla's figure. We now know
that cosmic rays, which are many and varied, result from the formations, decays and collisions
of many different kinds of particles - some from the sun and some from other, more distant
stars, novae and supernovae. Nevertheless, Tesla's principal concept was closer to the truth
than any of his contemporaries knew.
42
Many of Testa's discoveries and inventions are often mistakenly attributed to betterknown names. While most lay people still believe that Marconi perfected the transmission and
reception of radio waves, there is no longer reason to believe this: in June 1943 the US
Supreme Court ruled that Tesla's patents predated Marconi's claims on the prize of radio.
Popular history is, though, still slow to catch up. Errors committed in print can take many
years to correct. The just do not always get to write the history books, and even during his
lifetime Tesla became an object of ridicule and derision for his "outlandish ideas."
There were times when he may have contributed to this -for instance when he agreed with
Lord Kelvin in 1902 that Mars was trying to make contact with America. (It is now believed
he may have been the first person to have measured - without realizing its origin - the pulsing
of distant stars.) However, Kelvin and Tesla also agreed on a further, more prophetic point:
that the world's non-renewable resources - such as coal and oil - should be conserved and
that wind and solar power should be developed [8] Tesla's creative scientific skills seemed to
know few boundaries; yet many who saw him work were scared by his radical approach to
natural forces. In public demonstrations he would often wreathe himself in sparks and
crackling bolts of high-voltage electricity without ever seeming to do himself harm:
"I still remember with pleasure how, nine years ago, I passed the discharge of a powerful
induction-coil, through my body to demonstrate before a scientific society the comparative
harmlessness of very rapidly vibrating electric currents, and I can still recall the astonishment
of my audience. I would now undertake, with much less apprehension than I had in that
experiment, to transmit through my body with such currents the entire electrical energy of the
dynamos now working at Niagara -forty or fifty thousand horsepower. I have produced
electrical oscillations which were of such intensity that when circulating through my arms and
chest they have melted wires which joined my hands, and still I felt no inconvenience." [9]
A famous photograph of Tesla captures him sitting on a chair in the laboratory he built at
Colorado Springs in 1899. From the huge electrical coil in the centre of the room, white arcing
sparks — some over twenty feet long and as thick as a man's arm — squirm and leap around
him. With millions of volts of electrical charge appearing to surround his posing figure, he
seems perfectly, archly, "at home" - and to prove it he is calmly reading a book. It is a
seminal image of the man who was more comfortable with the awesome power of natural
electricity than perhaps anyone else - either before or since. The image is, in fact, a double
exposure, a flashy kind of hoax; nevertheless, it demonstrates a key part of Tesla's personality
his love of showmanship.
Transmission Without Wire
While many of Tesla's dreams were achieved, his most ambitious visions remained
unfulfilled during his lifetime. It is a matter of some considerable speculation, given his great
achievements, as to why some of his plans did not reach fruition. While Tesla had gained
great respect as an engineer and inventor, there were always those - like his professor in
earlier times - who did not believe that his imaginings could really come to anything. There
were others who were in commercial and technological competition with Tesla - Edison, for
example — who were willing to ridicule him and to diminish his standing as a way of
promoting their own interests. And then there were the backers, the moneymen, who both fed
and starved him according to their preference. Tesla's individual wealth was never enough to
linance his own projects, and when his projects cost more than expected, as they inevitably
did, he would throw himself on the mercy of a series of investors and benefactors. Throughout
43
his life Tesla's finances swung from copious amounts of cash -which were soon invested in
new machinery and inventions - to mountainous debts.
In early 1899 Tesla secured new investment from a number of wealthy individuals
including Col. John Jacob Astor, owner of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. With this
money he set up an elaborate laboratory in Colorado Springs, where he unleashed artificial
lightning discharges of several million volts (blowing up the local generating station in the
process). Tesla was convinced that he could transmit radio signals hundreds, even thousands
of miles around the globe. In the 1890s he had secured patents on many aspects of radio
transmission. In late 1900 Tesla needed a large investment if he were to get his Worldwide
Wireless Telephone Transmitter to deliver its promise. After false starts with a number of
investors he approached J. Pierpont Morgan, who had been Edison's backer during the earlydays of Edison's DC developments. Morgan's habit was to own 51 per cent of everything he
became involved in, and when Tesla approached him with plans for his worldwide radio
broadcasting system, the magnate Morgan was happy to forward him $150,000 secured on 51
per cent of Tesla's interests in his own radio patents.
Tesla did not tell Morgan his hidden agenda, which he had earlier confided to the now
unsupportive Westinghouse:
"You will know of course that I contemplate the establishment of such a communication
merely as the first step to further and more important work, namely that of transmitting power.
But as the latter will be an undertaking on a much larger and more expensive scale, I am
compelled to first demonstrate such feature to get the confidence of capital." [10]
Through his experiments he had become convinced that there were ways to transmit
unlimited amounts of electrical energy to any point on the globe without using any
conventional transfer medium such as copper cable. Writing later in 1900, he described how
he had developed his ideas:
"For a long time I was convinced that such a transmission on an industrial scale could
never be realized, but a discovery which I made changed my view. I observed that under
certain conditions the atmosphere, which is normally a high insulator, assumes conducting
properties, and so becomes capable of conveying any amount of electrical energy." [11]
But in order to carry out all the experiments, he needed to first put in place the worldwide
radio broadcasting station. He had already proved to his own satisfaction that he could
broadcast and receive signals over seven hundred miles, and now he offered Morgan the
possibility of both transatlantic and transpacific radio communication. Tesla quickly
purchased 200 acres of Long Island, which he christened "Wardenclyffe". The money was
soon being spent on the transmitting tower that would be Tesla's landmark, the symbol of his
life's vision. Wardenclyffe tower was 187 feet high and topped with a massive fifty-five-ton
mushroom-like dome. This contained Tesla's most important component - the magnifying
transmitter capable of generating oscillating signals of some hundreds of millions of volts.
In the two years or so that it took Tesla to build the transmitter he had developed two
major problems. With escalating costs and long delays he was now in desperate financial
straits. His second problem was Marconi, who had, on 12 December 1901, sent the first
wireless signal from Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland. What Morgan, and many others,
did not know was that Marconi was using Tesla's radio patents, which were to become the
focus of much dispute before Tesla's primacy was established in 1943.
44
Nor did Morgan appreciate how Marconi was able to achieve this with much less
equipment and cost than Tesla was employing. He also didn't know, but was about to find out,
Tesla's hidden power agenda. Tesla had already filed a patent relating to the wireless
transmission of power (US Patent No. 787,412 "Art of Transmitting Electrical Energy through
the Natural Medium") and would later apply for a more important US Patent, No. 1,119,732
"Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy", based on his work at Wardenclyffe. In his
comprehensive vision every person on the planet would have a receiver, which, just like a
radio, they could tune to receive unlimited, unmetered power.
When, on 3 July 1903, Tesla made his final plea for more finance, he threw himself on
Morgan's mercy, a quality that the magnate had never shown in any abundance: "If I could
have told you such as this before, you would have fired me out of this office .. .Will you help
me or let my great work - almost complete - go to pots?" [12]
Morgan"s reply came on 14 July: "I have received your letter ...and in reply would say I
should not feel disposed at present to make any farther advances,"[13]
In a Promethean display of anger, the next night saw the skies around Wardenclyffe tower
lit up with massive streaks and bolts of Tesla's artificial lightning, powered by the magnifying
transmitter. But it was to be the last show of its kind. Neither Morgan nor Westinghouse, and
none of the other big money people, were willing to start a new electrical revolution when
they were still reaping the profits of the first revolution that Tesla had played his part in.
In the end, Wardenclyffe tower was demolished for scrap and Tesla moved on to more
"acceptable" projects. Yet his desire to make energy freely available would never go away.
Tesla's Free Energy Devices
The wireless transmission of power was, essentially, a distribution technology. It still relied
on a conventional power generation method such as coal and steam turbine to produce the
enormous amounts of power it would have required. Since many years earlier, however, Tesla
had been fascinated by the idea of new, untapped energy sources. In one of his famous
lectures of 1892 he told an astounded audience:
"Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any
point of the universe... Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic? If
static, our hopes are in vain; if kinetic - and this we know it is, for certain - then it is a mere
question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork
of nature." [14]
In June 1900 in The Century Illustrated Magazine Tesla wrote what he considered to be the
most important of all his articles, "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy." The article
was radical, even sensational, in its ideas and caused a significant controversy amongst both
scientists and the general public at the time of its publication.
"Whatever our resources of primary energy may be in the future, we must, to be rational,
obtain it without consumption of any material. Long ago I came to this conclusion, and to
arrive at this result only two ways appeared possible - either to turn to use the energy of the
sun stored in the ambient medium, or to transmit, through the medium, the sun's energy to
distant places from some locality where it was obtainable without consumption of material."
[15]
Among many ideas for energy generation in the future, Tesla put forward a radical thought
experiment:
45
It is possible, and even probable, that there will be, in time, other resources of energy
opened up, of which we have no knowledge now. We may even find ways of applying
forces such as magnetism and gravity for driving machinery without using any other
means. Such realizations, though highly improbable, are not impossible. An example
will best convey an idea of what we can hope to attain, and what we can never attain.
Imagine a disk of some homogeneous material turned perfectly true and arranged to turn
in frictionless bearings on a horizontal shaft above the ground. This disk, being under
the above conditions perfectly balanced, would rest in any position. Now it is possible
that we may learn how to make such a disk rotate continuously and perform work by the
force of gravity without any further effort on our part: but it is perfectly impossible for
the disk to turn and do work without any force from the outside. If it could do so, it
would be what is designated scientifically as a "perpetuum mobile," a machine creating
its own motive power. To make the disk rotate by the force of gravity we have to invent
a screen against this force. By such a screen we could prevent this force from acting on
one half of the disk, and rotation of the latter would follow. At least, we cannot deny
such a possibility until we know exactly the nature of the force of gravity. Suppose that
this force were due to a movement comparable to that of a stream of air passing from
above toward the centre of the earth. The effect of such a stream upon both halves of the
disk would be equal, and the latter would not rotate ordinarily; but if one half should be
guarded by a plate arresting the movement, then it would turn. [16]
A screen against gravity? Even now such an idea delights and tantalizes - as does his
other assertion that all we needed for free energy was a magnet with one pole, or else a way of
shielding magnetism. This assertion has led to much experimentation into "permanent magnet
motors" - motors that have no motive force apart from that of their own magnetism, hi the
1920s Werner Heisenberg, one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and the progenitor of the
Uncertainty Principle, put forward the idea that we would indeed use magnets as a power
source, despite the conventional theory that says magnets are incapable of doing physical
work.
One of Tesla's many patents (No. 685,957 filed on 21 March 1901 and granted on 5
November 1901) was for an "Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy" - a machine to
capture the sun's cosmic rays and turn them into electricity. The concept for the device was
relatively simple, and involved putting an insulated metal plate as high as possible into the air.
A second metal plate is inserted into the ground. Wires are run from both into a capacitor.
The sun, as well as other sources of radiant energy, throws off minute particles of matter
positively electrified, which, impinging upon [the upper] plate, communicate
continuously an electrical charge to the same. The opposite terminal of the condenser
being connected to ground, which may be considered as a vast reservoir of negative
electricity, a feeble current flows continuously into the condenser and inasmuch as the
particles are charged to a very high potential, this charging of the condenser may
continue, as I have actually observed, almost indefinitely, even to the point of rupturing
the dielectric. [17]
This simple design for capturing a large electrical charge, and potentially an electrical
current, may well have been the starting point for T. Henry Moray (see Chapter 3 of Keith's
book - Ed. note) and those who have followed his work to turn "radiant energy" into electrical
46
current. ( I n Chapter 9 I look at how the radiant energy or "ether" concept has now been
updated in the light of modern physics.)
Another fuelless energy device Tesla mentioned in his Century Illustrated article "The
Problem of Increasing Human Energy" was a mechanical oscillator, which first appeared in
public at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. "On that occasion I exposed the principles of the
mechanical oscillator, but the original purpose of this machine is explained here for the first
time."[18] Tesla describes how large amounts of heat can be extracted from i the ambient
medium using a high-speed oscillator, a steam-driven engine used for producing highfrequency currents.
"My conclusions showed that if an engine of a peculiar kind could be brought to a high
degree of perfection, the plan I had conceived was realizable, and I resolved to proceed with
the development of such an engine, the primary object of which was to secure the greatest
economy of transformation of heat." [19]
Tesla envisioned the mechanical oscillator as part of a technology to capture differentials
in energy — a form of energy pump — but he was, it appears, finally defeated not just by the
complexities of the other components that would be required, but also by the economics of the
project:
"I worked for a long time fully convinced that the practical realization of the method of
obtaining energy from the sun would be of incalculable industrial value, but the continued
study of the subject revealed the fact that while it will be commercially profitable if my
expectations are well founded, it will not be so to an extraordinary degree." [20]
One of the initial spurs for his work on "energy pumps" had been Lord Kelvin, who had
stated that it was not possible to build a machine which could extract heat from its
surrounding medium and utilize the energy gained to run itself. In one of his many thought
experiments Tesla pictured a very tall bundle of metal rods, extending from the earth to outer
space. Since the earth is wanner than outer space, heat would be conducted up the metal rods
together with an electric current. All that would be required to capture the current would be a
very long power cable to connect the two ends of the metal bar each to an electric load such as
a battery or motor. A motor should keep running continuously, Tesla believed, until the earth
had cooled to the temperature of outer space - something which, depending on the size of
such a device, might never happen: "This would be an inanimate engine which, to all
evidence, would be cooling a portion of the medium below the temperature of the
surrounding, and operating by the heat abstracted." [21] By such means, Tesla contended,
such a machine could produce energy without "the consumption of any material" - his key
ideal.
Tesla and Faraday's Unipolar Dynamo
Michael Faraday, discoverer of the laws of electromagnetic induction, was the inventor of
the first electric motors in the 1830s. One of his stranger, and often neglected, devices was the
unipolar dynamo (discussed in Chapter 4 of Keith's book - Ed. note), consisting of a metal
disk rotating between magnets in order to produce electrical current. Tesla's involvement with
the unipolar, or homopolar generator, led him to believe that it might be capable of acting as a
"self-activating" generator. Indeed, in 1889 he filed and received a patent for the "Dynamo
Electric Machine" based on Faraday's original design, but with an improved design intended
47
to increase its efficiency by reducing its drag or back torque, Tesla was postulating that if the
back torque could be engineered to work in the direction of movement, rather than against it,
then the machine could be made self-sustaining. While Tesla was not able to achieve such a
feat in his lifetime, his, and Faraday's, ideas were to be picked up by a number of researchers
including Bruce DePalma - inventor of the N-machine - in the 1970s and '80s.
These are not the only attempts Tesla made to develop a fuelless energy generator, but just
how far he got in his quest is far from clear. Tesla himself clearly stated that he had achieved
energy generation from a new energy source on a number of occasions, although he was not
always forthcoming about the technology behind his claimed achievement. On 10 July 1931,
for instance, The Brooklyn Eagle carried an article in which Tesla was quoted: "I have
harnessed the cosmic rays and caused them to operate a motive device. "More than twentyfive years ago I began my efforts to harness the cosmic rays and I can now state that I have
succeeded."
On 1 November 1933 Tesla made a similar claim in the New York American, under the
headline "Device to Harness Cosmic Energy Claimed by Tesla": "This new power for the
driving of the world's machinery will be derived from the energy which operates the universe,
the cosmic energy, whose central source for the earth is the sun and which is everywhere
present in unlimited quantities."
These two articles, written during Tesla's later creative phase, demonstrate his concern to
solve "the energy problem" which he saw before him. While he had been critically
responsible for the expansion of electricity use, he also felt a passionate need to conserve the
coal reserves for future generations.
In November 1933 he was asked by a journalist from the Philadelphia Public Ledger
whether his fuelless technologies would upset the present economic system. "Dr Tesla replied,
"It is badly upset already." He added that now as never before was the time ripe for the
development of new resources."
Summary
48
So why haven't we seen any of these free energy technologies working? There is little
doubt that Tesla was one of the great scientific geniuses not just of his own time, but perhaps
of the entire twentieth century us well, but the reasons why his technologies were not
developed may be complex.
Some researchers have claimed that, like Leonardo da Vinci, he was not just fifty or a
hundred years ahead of his time, but perhaps many hundreds of years in advance of
contemporary thinking. Scientific and technological ideas need support, both intellectual and
financial, if they are to thrive.
Is it possible, then, that new generations of scientists have not been able to develop his
visionary ideas into physical technologies? This question bears on the notion of genius in
science, as opposed to genius in the arts and other fields of endeavor. While we accept that no
one else could have written Beethoven's symphonies or Shakespeare's plays, it seems harder
to accept that science is subject to the same vagaries of human beings. Even though Galileo
Galilei, Michael Faraday and Albert Einstein possessed unique minds, we often assume that if
theyhadn't "come up with" their discoveries someone else would have done the same pretty
soon after. Perhaps that assumption is erroneous, or at least, highly limited. If it hadn't been
for Tesla it is quite possible that we would have developed a much more primitive and limited
electrical system based on small generating stations every few miles.
Once Tesla had brought about one electrical revolution, the world was not ready for
another, even more radical development of electrical power. The commercial powers that
controlled the electrical landscape - based as it was on a distributed network of copper cable had no interest in throwing away their investment in favor of the wireless, and potentially
costless, transmission and reception of electricity. They seem to have had even less interest in
Tesla's ideas of free-energy technologies. T. Henry Moray, who adopted some of Tesla's
ideas in his radiant energy device (see Chapter 3 of Keith's book - Ed. note) faced many of
the same oppositions that Tesla faced. While we can thank Tesla's genius for bringing
distributed AC electricity to most of the world, we have yet to receive the gift he really
wanted to give. In his more enlightened times Tesla himself maintained a balanced view:
"I anticipate that many, unprepared for these results, which, through long familiarity,
appear to me simple and obvious, will consider them still far from practical application. Such
reserve, and even opposition, of some is as useful a quality and as necessary an element in
human progress as the quick receptivity and enthusiasm of others... the scientific man does not
aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced idea will be readily taken up.
His work is like that of the planter - for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those
who are to come, and point the way." [22]
Eventually on 7 January 1943 Tesla ended his days, alone and poor in a shabby New York
hotel where only a few pet pigeons shared his thoughts.
(With a Foreword by Arthur C. Clarke, Keith's book is a fascinating collection of scientific
stories on pioneers as Tesla, Moray, Faraday, and many others, along with chapters on Swiss
ML Converter, cold fusion, Blacklight Power, zero-point energy, an energy primer, and Tesla
patents. - Ed. note)
Keith Tutt can be reached through Street Farm, Topcroft, Bungay, Suffolk, NR35 2BL, UK
keith@thesearchforfreeenergy.com
49
1
Tesla's History In Western New York
Thomas Valone, M.A., P.E.
Reprinted from Proceedings of the International Tesla Symposium, 1986
Introduction
Home of the 'Tesla Memorial Society of the US and Canada", Western New York
has a rich history of being touched and brought to life by Nikola Tesla:
1) Niagara Falls, New York was the first city in the world to have commercial
alternating current generation of electricity, owing to Tesla;
2) Buffalo, New York was the first city in the world to receive electric power
generated from a long distance away (22 miles) because of Tesla;
3) Buffalo, New York was the first city in the nation to have electric street lights
thanks to Tesla.
Spending most of my life in Buffalo, and lots of enjoyable hours in Niagara Falls, it
is my great yet humble pleasure to bring to you tonight an historical travelogue; a
trip back in time, to the 1890's when the excitement and thrill of Tesla's fame was
felt by everyone in Western New York.
Sit back, relax, and get ready to experience what it was like to live in that period, just
as the transformation of these two cities was taking place. For the first time, articles
from the Niagara Gazette (1893-1897) have been uncovered, including an interview
with Tesla on the occasion of his first visit to the newly erected Adams Plant. Let's
see how electrical power was extracted from Niagara Falls, from the Adams, to the
Schoellkopf, and finally the Robert Moses Power Plant. We'll examine the mistakes
that were made as well as how Niagara Falls, New York, has tried to commemorate
the "greatest electrician that ever lived," Nikola Tesla.
To begin with, I'll read a passage from Tesla's Magnifying Transmitter by Dr.
Andrija Puharich, a book that is in the hands of Dell Publishers at this time.
In 1890, the Morgan financial group had started a company to try to develop
the electric power potential of Niagara Falls. It was called the Cataract
Construction Company, and its president was Edward Dean Adams. An
International commission was chaired by Lord Kelvin. The commission found
that none of the plans were feasible. So the Cataract Company asked for plans
and bids from companies in order to get the work under way. It was an
incredible personal triumph for Tesla when his concept and plan were adopted
by the commission. In October, 1893, two companies were awarded the
contracts to electrify Niagara Falls: Westinghouse won the contract to build the
AC power plant at the Falls; and General Electric, using licensed Tesla patents,
was awarded the contract to build the transmission lines and distribution
systems to Buffalo, New York, 22 miles away. Tesla had set huge ideas and
forces in motion years ago, and now the tide of industrial civilization was
lifting them higher and higher to the thundering crest of Niagara Falls'
worldwide reputation ...
51
On the night of March 13, 1895, a fire broke out in the basement of 33 South
Fifth Avenue and swept through the entire structure — including Tesla's
laboratory. All of his hundreds of invention models, plans, notes, plans, notes,
laboratory data, tools, photographs — all, all were destroyed ... Even as the
disaster of his laboratory loss was still ashes in his heart, the power from
Niagara Falls began to flow in August, 1895 - Tesla's greatest triumph to date.
The builders and backers of this biggest of all electrical power plants on the
planet were highly pleased with the success of the Tesla polyphase system. [1]
We have three dates to keep in mind:
1893 - start of the Adams Plant, contract awarded
1895 - power turned on at the completed Adams Plant
1896 - power sent 22 miles to Buffalo, for the first time.
Figure 1. Nikola Tesla. - Introducing Nikola Tesla.
Now starting off with a picture of Tesla, from a small rare booklet found in the
Niagara Falls library entitled Introducing Nikola Tesla by Thomas L. Richardson of
the Tesla Research Headquarters of Canada, let us look at some of the articles of
Tesla's time from the same library.
Biggest Motor in the World
An article entitled, "Biggest Motor in the World" appeared in the Niagara Gazette.
August 24,1897. In 1897 they installed a 400 horsepower motor in Niagara Falls.
52
The caption under the title says "the biggest alternating current machine will operate
on the regular 2,000 volt current, from the Power House generators, without the use
of a convenor -- built for the Electric Light Plant." The article goes on to report:
Anything new in electrical machines is interesting in Niagara Falls where so
much electricity is flying around, and consequently the news of a new motor
being installed in the power house of the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Electric
Light and Power Company, that is the largest of its kind in the world, is not
without its interesting features.
When it is said that the new motor is 'the largest of its kind' it is an essential
fact in this story. There is a motor larger, but not of the most modern type.
The new machine is what is familiarly called a Tesla Induction type motor. It is
built on the design of Tesla, who discovered a method of using an alternating
two-phase electric current for operating a motor after other electricians had
tried and failed to discern this method. It was considered one of Tesla's
greatest achievements to discover this method for many reasons, but chiefly for
its economical features....
Tesla's Renown
The earliest article to be examined is one entitled, "Tesla's Renown" from the
Niagara Gazette. May 29,1893:
The subtitles read, "A young man who is becoming known to the world as the
greatest living electrician. Niagara power over the sea. To perform this feat is one
of his dreams -- power enough to drive every railroad, propel every ship and produce
every article manufactured." The rest of this short article is reproduced in its
entirety:
Nikola Tesla has been called by scientific men, who do not award praise freely
or indiscriminately, 'the greatest living electrician.' At the recent convention of
electricians held in St. Louis a well-known electric journal issued daily
bulletins or 'extras' giving a list of the delegates and distinguished attendants as
they arrived at the convention, a program of the day's proceedings and a special
article of immediate interest having reference to the current discussions of the
convention.
One evening during the session of the convention, Mr. Tesla lectured on some
of his recent experiments. The bulletin for that day contained a brief account of
his life. So great is the interest taken in this young man that over 4,000 copies
of the journal containing this biographical sketch were sold on the streets of St.
Louis -- something unprecedented in the history of electrical journalism -- and
in the evening his lecture, in the Grand Music Entertainment Hall, was listened
to by a larger audience than had ever been gathered together before in the
United States on an occasion of this kind. Many were glad to purchase
complimentary tickets at $4 or $5 apiece.
It is singular that this remarkable man comes to us from one of the smallest and
least known nations of Europe, Montenegro; that he is a young man (only 30
years of age), and that the best scientific minds believe that he has only begun
to give the world the result of valuable researches.
The following is taken from an interview with Mr. Tesla by a New York Herald
reporter. "In this great country (of which I am proud to be a citizen) we have
water powers which, in aggregate amount, are sufficient to supply all the needs
— in fact, far more than the needs - of the whole human race. Take, for
instance, Niagara. This famous waterfall is estimated variously all the way
from five to six millions horse-power. Now 1,000,000 horse-power economi-
53
cally directed would light every lamp, drive every railroad, propel every ship,
heat every store, and produce every article manufactured by machinery in the
United States.
"It will not be long before we can transmit that power under quite practical
conditions by means of wires with the alternating system over distances as great
as 1000 miles. Engineers now object to the use of very high pressure which
would be necessary in such transmissions of power. But I believe the time will
come when we shall transmit that energy without any wire.
"Since I have experimentally proved that we can get back electric impulses
over one single wire without any return we may avail ourselves of the earth as a
medium of transmission as one difficult obstacle to overcome. In fact, the only
serious objection to this scheme is to find a means to concentrate the energy of
vibrations spread over a great area on one spot.
"If this power is to be transmitted across the ocean, it will of course involve the
expenditure of an enormous quantity of energy. It has been suggested that I can
produce a set of lenses made of asphaltum or gutta percha or any other good
so-called non-conductor of electricity, and can concentrate these rays, or waves,
to a focus where their effect would be powerful.
"This plan if at all practicable, could be applied as well across the Atlantic as it
could at shorter distances on land.
"Electricity is becoming more and more an important factor in our daily life and
more and more closely connected with our comfort. I think, after a considerable lapse of time, it will become practically necessary for our existence. For
instance, there is the question of light The advantages of the electric light are
so great that even with the present wasteful methods we have been able to
succeed in making practical use of it.
"But what will be our success when we shall be able to produce a hundred
times as much light as we do at the present day? To do this is merely a
question of time. Electric power is obtained by the use of dangerous,
cumbersome and complicated appliances. But we have electric machines now,
which require no attention whatever, and which will, in a few years, supplant
all other motors, simply because of their higher efficiency and ideal simplicity.
"Even now the cost is very great. Eventually we will very likely be able to heat
our stoves, warm the water and do our cooking by electricity, and in fact, to
perform any service of this kind required for our domestic needs.
"It has been said that it will be unpracticable to heat our houses by means of
electricity on account of the great cost, but as I have said we are now looking
for other methods of getting electrical energy cheap. Even with the present
methods any rich man certainly prefers, instead of a stove in his room, to have
it wanned by electricity. The method is expensive but ideal.
"Electric energy can be applied to bicycles, carriages and all sorts of vehicles.
It will certainly be applied to rowboats and will probably be so cheap that any
man in ordinary circumstances can own a boat and propel it by this means. It
would be a gloomy prospect indeed for the world if we did not think that this
great power will be used to the advantage of the vast majority of the human
race and its benefits will not be confined merely to the wealthy.
"Some years ago I demonstrated that a lampate filament could be made to glow
from a current from the human hand. The light coming from the hand is
produced by the agitation of the particles of molecules of the air. I charge my
body with electricity, and from an apparatus which I have devised, I can make
54
the electricity vibrate at the rate of a million times a second. The molecules of
the air are then violently agitated, so violently that they become luminous; and
streams of light then come out from the hand.
"In the same manner I am able to take in the hand a bulb of glass filled with
certain substances and make them spring into light; I make light come to an
ordinary lamp in a similar way, simply by holding it in the hand.
"When I was in London I had the pleasure of performing one of these
experiments privately before Lord Rayleigh. I shall never forget the eagerness
and excitement with which that famous scientist saw the lamp light up. I can
only say that the appreciation of such men simply repays me for that pains I
take in working out such phenomena."
Tesla's Dream
Another article entitled Tesla's Dream" is taken from the Niagara Gazette.
November 22,1893. This is still when plans were getting under way at Niagara Falls
and they had just signed the contract. The excitement is building. Tesla has a plan
to send Niagara Falls power through New York "by electricity's aid." "All eyes on
Niagara Falls. Superintendent of Public Works, Hannan feels that the Niagara power
... can wire the Canal and propel the boats — Governor Flower given some advice,"
read the subtitles.
This is an interesting sideline to the Adams Plant project that never actually took
place but let's read about it:
An Albany special has the following in regards to the recent test of the
possibilities of electric propulsion of canal boats; Edward Hannan, the Superintendent of Public Works, is highly gratified over what he considers the
successful demonstration on the Erie Canal at Brighton last Saturday that
electricity can be used in the propulsion of canal boats. Speaking about the
experiment today he said:
"I think it was clearly made evident at Brighton that canal boats, by using the
trolley system of supplying themselves with electricity for electric motors, can
get sufficient power to be driven with their ordinary cargoes from one end of
the Erie Canal to the other. As to the cost of putting trolley wires along the Erie
Canal and of supplying electricity, as well as the cost of putting electric motors
in the canal boats - this will have to be learned by many computations."
"Do you favor the suggestion that the State should put up the trolley wires?"
"I do not. The governor asked my opinion of the State's undertaking such a
work and I told him that in my judgement it was not feasible for the State to put
up electrical wires or go to any expense of like nature; that it ought to be left to
private enterprise. In my opinion this Niagara Falls Electric Power Company
will eventually be able, if it chooses to do so, to put up trolley wires all along
the line of the Erie Canal and supply electricity for the canal boats."
Commenting on the declaration of the superintendent, George Wesringhouse,
Jr., when asked by the writer on Saturday what distance it would be
commercially profitable to send electricity, replied: "I think that now it can be
sent with profit a distance of 200 miles."
Nikola Tesla, the eminent electrician, said to the writer: "I have plans for
sending electricity from Niagara Falls to New York City — plans which I
believe will ultimately be accepted by capitalists and carried out."
55
Note how Mr. Westinghouse was already conceiving of a distance 10 times greater
than the distance from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, which still had not been accomplished at that time.
Testa's Great Ideas
One day later, another article appeared in the Niagara Gazette entitled, "Tesla's
Great Ideas," November 23, 1893. The subtitle reads, "W. R. Rankine talks of them
— Nothing would surprise him - thinks that possibly some of his plans will be
brought to a practical reality — satisfied with progress of the work." Then the article
begins (reproduced in its entirety):
William R. Rankine, secretary and treasurer of the Cataract Construcion
Company, arrived in the city this morning from New York looking extremely
well and happy.
Mr. Rankine dined at the Prospect House today and was interviewed by a
GAZETTE representative on matters in general.
"How is work progressing on the works, Mr. Rankine?"
"Very satifactorily indeed! The contracted work is being pushed along and is
progressing as rapidly as one would wish."
"What is your opinion of this matter of electricity on the canals?"
"I think it gives the newspapers a fruitful topic for discussion and the public
something to think about."
"What about Tesla's project of transmitting electricity from Niagara Falls to
New York?"
"Tesla is always ahead of the procession and I have come to that point where
there is nothing astonishing to me in anything this remarkable man may
propose. It would not be surprising to me to see some of his wonderful ideas
brought to a practical reality in the near future."
Nikola Tesla, An Accurate Sketch
Now we are getting to 1894 just before the power is turned on at Niagara Falls. The
article is entitled, "Nikola Tesla, An Accurate Sketch of the Wonderful Serbian
Wizard Who Deals in Electricity." Subtitled, "His remarkable genius. Sees 'the low
lights flickering on tangible new continents of science' — inherits his inventive turn
from his mother - early history of a romantic life."
Right next to this article is found another of a decidedly less scientific nature:
"Malaria and Epidemics Often Avoided by Partaking of Hot Coffee in the Morning."
We can see the state of discernment of the scientific method in those days.
I'll just quote the first paragraph here since it is available elsewhere:
The readers of the GAZETTE will appreciate the following sketch of Nikola
Tesla, the famous electrician who has frequently visited here. It is taken from
the February Century and is by Thomas C. Martin. Nikola Tesla was born in
Serbia, a land so famous for its poetry that Goethe is said to have learned the
musical tongue in which it is written, rather than lose any of its native beauty.
There is no record of any one having ever studied Serbian for the sake of
Serbian science; and indeed a great Slav orator has recently reproached his one
hundred and twenty million fellows in Eastern Europe with their utter inability
to invent even a mousetrap. But even racial conditions leave genius its
56
freedom, and once in a while nature herself rights things by producing a men
whose transcendent merit compensates his nation for the very defects to which
it has long been sensitive ...
Electric Lighting
In the next article, where Tesla is interviewed, we note that he will refuse to discuss
his new invention, the electric arc lamp, that was keeping him busy while the Adams
Plant was being completed. Here is an interesting article that reveals efficiencies for
incandescent lamps that still have not been surpassed today. Let's take a look at a
short article that appeared in the Niagara Gazette. May 22, 1896, entitled, "Electric
Lighting." "Nicola Tesla Has a New Scheme Which Will Revolutionize The Present
System" reads the subtitle.
New York, May 22. Nicola Tesla has solved the problem which he set before
himself many years ago and which may revolutionize the system of electric-lighting. It is, electrical experts say, the nearest perfect adaption of the
great force to the use of man.
In Mr. Tesla's laboratory in Houston Street is a bulb not much more than three
inches in length, which when the current turns into it, becomes a ball of light.
The heat is almost imperceptible. With it a very large room is so lighted that it
is possible to read in any corner. Yet this is done without the attachments
necessary in existing lights.
The rays are so strong that the sharpest photographs may be taken by them.
No new dynamo is required to produce the current. The bulb is attached to a
wire connected with the street current. There is no danger of harmful shock in
its use.
Mr. Tesla has been working for many years on his theory of the necessity and
practicability of the conservation of electrical energy. The present incandescent
light gives only three per cent of illuminating power. The other 97 per cent is
wasted in heat
The bulb which he has perfected gives 10 per cent of light and loses 90 per cent
of energy. He declares that he will, with the aid of a few more experiments, be
able to produce 40 per cent of light, so that the waste will be reduced to only 60
per cent, or 37 per cent less than at present.
This article is no less than amazing because today our incandescent bulbs still check
in at about 3 per cent efficiency. Where did Tesla's invention go?
Nikola Tesla, An Interesting Talk
Now we get to what I believe is the most exciting article of all. Here is an actual
interview with Tesla just after the power is being turned on at the Falls and Buffalo
is just about to get some of the power (not reprinted or available anywhere else in the
literature). Here Tesla is visiting the Niagara Falls Adams Plant to inspect the work
that has been finally finished according to his design. The article, from the
Niagara Gazette. July 20, 1896, is entitled, "Nikola Tesla, An Interesting Talk with
America's Great Electrical Idealist." The subtitles read, "Remarkable personality.
The dreamer in science was in the city yesterday, inspecting the wonders which had
been achieved in harnessing Niagara. He had but little to say. Mr. Tesla was here
with George Westinghouse, President Adams of the Cataract Construction Company,
Commodore Melville of the United States Navy, Mr. William R. Rankine, and other
distinguished men." The article, a real gem, is quoted in its entirety:
57
Nikola Tesla, the brilliant Serbian electrician who believes that ultimately
electricity, generated by flying atoms, will be pumped out of the ground for use
anywhere, was a visitor at Niagara Falls yesterday.
He was accompanied by Edward D. Adams, president of the Cataract
Construction Company; George Westinghouse, president of the Westinghouse
Electric Company; his son, Herman H. Westinghouse of New York; Thomas D.
Ely, superintendent of motive power of the Pennsylvania Railroad; Commodore
George W. Melville, chief engineer of the United States navy; Paul D. Cravath,
counsel for the Westinghouse Company, and William R. Rankine, secretary of
the Cataract Construction Company.
It is a difficult thing to interview Nikola Tesla, but to sit down and talk with
him, man to man, is a privilege to be enjoyed and remembered. One seldom
meets a man more free from affections and self-conciousness. He does not like
to talk about himself and when the subject comes up he is sure to steer away
from it as soon as possible.
With due apologies to Mr. Tesla for so much personality, it may be said that he
has the same cast of countenance as Paderewski -- long and thin, with fine,
clean cut features, long forehead, and a certain gleam of the eye that denotes
what might be called spirituality. Anyone who has read of the personality of
Edgar Allan Poe and who has also had the pleasure of a talk with Tesla, would
feel instinctively that the unhappy inspired child of Parnassus and the Serbian
electrician would have found much in common if they had ever met
Tesla is an idealist, and anyone who had created an ideal of him from the fame
that he has won, will not be disappointed in seeing him for the first time. He is
fully six feet tall, very dark of complexion, nervous, and wiry. Impressionable
maidens would fall in love with him at first sight but he has no time to think of
impressionable maidens. In fact, he has given as his opinion that inventors
should never marry. Day and night he is working away at some deep problems
that fascinate him, and anyone that talks with him for only a few minutes will
get the impression that science is his only mistress and that he cares more for
her than for money and fame.
He had one of his rare moments yesterday when he could be induced to talk of
science and when asked of the advances made in the problem of transmission,
with earnest face and eyes fairly ablaze, he said, "There is no obstacle in the
way of the successful transmission of power from the big power house you
have here. The problem has been solved. Power can be transmitted to Buffalo
as soon as the Power Company is ready to do it."
As the famous electrician grew enthusiastic he gestured with his hands which
are apparently trustworthy indicators of his nervous condition. They trembled a
little as he held them up and the conclusion to be drawn from them was that
their possessor was a man of tremendous nervous energy.
Mr. Tesla is a man between 38 and 39 years of age and looks even younger. He
was born in a town called Smiljan in Serbia on the borderland of Austria-Hungary. His father was an eloquent preacher of the Greek Church, and his mother
was a woman of remarkable ingenuity. He had an inherited taste for mechanics, and it is his mother's blood that makes him what he is.
Tesla Interviewed
The article continues:
58
A squad of Buffalo and local newspaper men greeted the visitors as they
emerged from the dining room of the Cataract House yesterday afternoon and
Secretary
Rankine
courteously
introduced
the
reporters
to
his
distinguished
guests.
Mr. Tesla's first visit to this city made him the object of much interest, and
while decidedly backward in interviews he was a most agreeable talker. He
said, "I am just off of a sick bed and not very strong yet," when first greetings
were over. "Yes this is my first visit to Niagara Falls and to the power house
here. Oh, it is wonderful beyond comparison; these dynamos are the largest in
the world. Ft always affects me to see such things. The shock is severe upon
me."
"What do you think of the project of transmitting power to Buffalo?" he was
asked.
"It is one of the simplest propositions," he said. "It is simply according to all
pronounced and accepted rules, and is as firmly established as the air itself."
"Do you think that the cost will be less for power transmitted than for using
steam power?"
"Certainly. Even if steam was as cheap as electricity, it would be a full steam
plant and never be reduced in quantity to be less than 25 per cent of the full
power no matter how small the quantity is that you use, while electricity the
moment you shut it off, costs nothing."
"What is your opinion of Buffalo's prospects with such great power so near it
and so easily obtained?"
"It is an ideal city with a great future, a wonderful future before it." Further on
he said: "Niagara Falls has the greatest future of all. For here it will be the
cheapest to obtain power and its limit is hard to imagine." In regard to
transmission, Tesla asserted that it is cheaper to transmit power in large
quantities than in small quantities; the larger the force the less the loss in
transmission, and in this connection Secretary Rankine stated that power would
be transmitted to Buffalo not later than November of this year. The contract for
completing the pole line would be let this week, and by November the company
would send all the power they could spare to that city. This would not exceed
1,000 horsepower. Next year, when the new dynamos are ready, this amount
would be increased as rapidly as the demands for it came in.
Mr. Tesla said that he was not prepared to talk on his latest invention, the new
vacuum light. He was devoting his energy and study to the subject of
transmission and insulation in order to bring it down to as near a perfect point
as possible. He said he was going back to his laboratory from here and begin to
work zealously on the important matters referred to.
Mr. George Westinghouse, who was among the group and who stands
preeminent in the electrical world, regarded the conversation with much interest
and good nature. He spoke to the Buffalo men present in the most flattering
manner of the outlook for that city, but of course he said Niagara Falls was
bound to receive the first and greatest benefits of the development of power
here. "It will be Greater Niagara first," he said, "but Buffalo's possibilities are
to be made marvelous as well." From his practical mind the project of power
development for this city and Buffalo seemed unlimited.
59
In regard to the comparative cheapness of power in Buffalo he said that were
electricity as high in price as steam it would be cheaper for use, as there was
nothing required in the way of skilled labor to use it. Anyone could shut it off
and turn on an electric current, but only a few could run a steam engine. Then
the convenience of electrical power over steam power in manufacturing was so
great that its value was manifold in this direction. The cost, however, in
Buffalo for electric power transmitted from this city, he did not know as he was
not connected with the power company. Secretary Rankine came to his aid
here and said, "You can say it will cost one half what steam power cost there."
"Mr. Tesla, what is your opinion of the effect of this development of power on
Buffalo and Niagara Falls," was asked of the great inventor as he was turning
away.
"The effect will be that both cities will stretch out their arms until they meet,"
he said in an enthusiastic manner, which indicated the true characteristics of the
man so clearly.
Secretary Rankine stated that the object of the party here was purely one of a
personal nature. The company has adopted Tesla's system of a two phase
current for transmitting power and they also use two of Tesla's motors for
starting the big dynamos and Mr. Westinghouse has made all of the machinery
for the company and consequently both men were interested in the plant here.
The visit of Commodore Melville of the navy was one of inspection. That
officer is deeply interested at present in improving in every way possible the
electrical machinery on the new warships now being built He was the guest of
the Power Company's officials and took great interest in all he saw here.
The visitors departed yesterday afternoon on the West Shore for New York at 5
o'clock.
Celebration
The last article that I discovered was printed during the time of celebration of the
great accomplishment of AC power generation and transmission to the distant city of
Buffalo. Dated January 11, 1897, this article from the Niagara Gazette is entitled,
"Are Coming to This City" with subtitles, "Many prominent men who are interested
in the big power development; Important meeting to be held; The directors of the
Cataract Construction Company will probably take some important steps regarding
new contracts. The visitors will attend a great banquet in Buffalo tomorrow night."
Knowing the historical value of this last article to mention Tesla, let me take the
liberty of quoting it in its entirety:
Tomorrow morning a special car will bring to this city from New York nearly
all the directors of the Cataract Construction Company, also officers of the
Power Company and some of the most noted electricians in the world. A
meeting of the Cataract Construction Company is to be held here, an inspection
of the work in progress made and some important steps are to be taken
regarding new contracts, etc.
Tomorrow night Buffalo will formally celebrate the coming to that city of
electric power for commercial purpose. The celebration is to be in the form of
a banquet given at the Ellicott Club, and to which many distinguished guests
are invited and will be present. This banquet is the only method Buffalo has of
celebrating and to those who are to be present it is a glorious way. The menu is
to be fine, in fact it is to be the very best that any 350 men ever sat down to, and
the main feature of the occasion will be the toasts and addresses made by some
of the greatest men of the day in advancing electrical science and turning it into
practical and commercial benefits. Among those who are to attend are such
60
men as Thomas A. Edison, Nicola Tesla, Frank Spragde, the inventor of the
trolley system, Elihu Thompson, inventor of the arc electric light; also E.J.
Houston, an electric light system inventor; Charles F. Brush the original electric
light man; George Westinghouse and a host of others.
The officers of the Niagara Falls Power Company are the only representatives
from this city, with the exception of Albeit H. Porter, who was formerly
resident engineer of the Cataract Construction Company.
The list of toasts had not been completed on Saturday night, but all will be
ready today. One of the speakers is to be Tesla, that is sure, and others will
probably do some talking too."
The Power of Niagara
To get a feel for the untamed power and energy of Niagara Falls, which Tesla
revered even as a child, I will take you on a helicopter ride over the falls.
Figure 2. Bird's eye view of Niagara Falls, includes American Falls, Goat
Island, and the Canadian Falls. — Thomas Valone.
We begin at the lower side of the Rainbow Bridge and gradually approach the
American and Canadian Falls respectively. The Niagara River has an average of
202,000 cubic feet per second water flow. The thundering power of this rushing
water is so loud when one stands next to the falls that we can easily understand why
Tesla was so intent on trying to tap some of it for the large scale generation of
electricity.
61
Swinging around the Canadian l u l l s , also referred to as the "Horseshoe Falls"
because of their shape, we see the land mass between the Fal l s called "Goat Island"
where the Tesla Statue stands today. Notice also the tour boats, called, "Maid of the
Mist" boats, which go right up to the base of the Horseshoe Falls and spray all of the
passengers with water, while they experience the most magnificent rainbows in the
world.
Generating Stations
A plaque has been placed at the site of the earliest power generating station at
Niagara Falls. Located downstream from the American Falls, (very near the spot
where the helicopter started from), the Schoellkopf Hydro-Electric Power Station
was inaugurated on December 14, 1881 by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and
Manufacturing Company, predecessor of the Niagara Falls Power Company. From a
data book supplied by the "Power Authority of the State of New York," we note that
the Schoellkopf plant has been documented as "the first public demonstration of
electricity at Niagara Falls." It involved DC generator arc light machines using the
86-foot drop of a paper company mill shaft. Supplying "the light of 2(XX) candles" to
a few companies in the local vicinity, it awakened everyone to the potential of cheap
electricity from Niagara Falls.
62
Figure 4. Aerial view of the American Falls at Niagara Falls. - Pana-vue.
The Edward Dean Adams Hydro-Electric Power Station Number One was inaugurated on August 26, 1895 by the Niagara Falls Power Company. Currently the
Station's nameplate and the entire archway of the entrance to the huilding stands on
Goat Island directly in back of the Tesla Statue. The Adams Plant Number One
contained ten 5,000 horsepower generators yielding 37,000 kilowatts. A second
Adams Plant (Number Two), doubled that output. The original plant was designed
for 25 Hz only, though "subsequent expansion included conversion to 60 Hz." [2 J
The Schoellkopf Power Generating Station #3A in 1914 had a total output of
130,000 horsepower. It was razed in 1958. Schoellkopf Power Stations #3B and
#3C, completed in 1920 and 1924 respectively, produced a total of 322,500
horsepower. Unfortunately, these two plants were destroyed in an unanticipated rock
slide which occurred in 1956. A beautifully worded plaque is mounted about 20 feet
from the Schoellkopf plaques. Erected by the Niagara Falls Power Company in
1922, it says, "To the engineers financiers scientists whose genius courage and
industry made possible here the birth of hydro-electric power and created the first
five thousand horse power water turbines directly connected to alternating current
generators and inaugurated in America long distance transmission of power by
electricity." Tesla's handiwork made it all possible!
63
Figure 5. Aerial view of Schoelkopf plant rockslide. - Tom Valone
Figure 6. Two million kilowatt Robert Moses Power Plant
64
— Tom Valone
What really happened in 1956 that devastated most of the Schoellkopf plants'.' Well,
a book entitled. Colossal Cataract shows the before and after pictures. A tremendous
collapse of the cliff above the #3B and #3C plants occurred. The wall was never
finished with the fine masonary work that still covers the #3A cliff on the left to this
day. The entire Schoellkopf facility was rated at 365,000 kilowatts before disaster
struck and part of it was restored to 95,000 kilowatts for a couple of years
afterwards.
Within three years after the Schoellkopf Plant #3A was razed, the Robert Moses
Niagara Power Plant was opened, with a capacity of 1,950,000 kilowatts, enough to
supply a city the size of Chicago today with electricity. Its thirteen generators are
the largest of their kind ever constructed by an American manufacturer. For
comparison, the Grand Coulee generators are rated at 108,000 kilowatts. Tesla was
right when he foresaw the enormous power potential of Niagara Falls. The Robert
Moses Plant required 3,650,000 cubic yards of concrete and 284,000,000 pounds of
reinforcing steel. Power is produced at 13,800 volts and stepped up to the current
high voltage limit of 365,000 volts for efficient long-distance transmission. The
Power Plant structure is 1840 feet long and 390 feet high. No rock slide could ever
disturb this installation!
Adams Plant Number One
Now that we have seen the entire progression of electrical power development at
Niagara Falls, let's go back now to the first Adams Plant and examine some of its
details. In Figure 7, we see the actual plant. The next figure shows the interior of
the plant with Board of Directors of the Cataract Construction Company, all wearing
the same style hat, including Edward Adams himself, (the shortest man with the
biggest moustache). Notice the relative size of just one of Tesla's generators,
lowering above the men.
Figure 7. Adams Plant Number One. - Niagara Falls Power Company.
65
Figure 8. Board of Directors of the Cataract Construction Company. - Niagara
Falls Power Company
Figure 9. Interior of Adams Plant Number One Powerhouse. - Niagara Falls Power
Company
66
67
Figure 10. Diagram of Adams Plant One Power Distribution. - Niagara Falls Power
Company. Notice that 11,000 volts of 3-phase AC power (top) is being sent to Buffalo,
mostly converted into 550 volts DC for railways and the first street lights in the nation.
68
Figure 11. Aerial viewmap of Niagara Falls, circa 1900. -Niagara Falls Power Company
69
Figure 12. Street map of Niagara Falls showing location of the Adams Plant.
70
Figure 13. Huge arc formed when opening early DC circuit breaker. - NF Power Co.
These illustrations were taken from various historical books that provide a detailed
record of the Niagara Falls Power Company from its inception. In Figure 9, we can see a
beautiful shot of the interior of the completed Adams Plant #1, with all of the 5000 hp
generators visible. The text noted that two plants were planned each with a 50,000 hp
capacity. Figure 11 shows an aerial view from an old Niagara Falls Power Company
map. (Niagara Falls was officially incorporated as a city only a few years earlier in
1892.) The Falls are close by. Both Adams Plants are shown in the street map, though
I've highlighted the Number One plant. Figure 10 is especially interesting since we can
71
see the 140 foot drop below the Adams Plant where the long generator shafts had to
reach, as well as who received the electrical power. Besides a few companies in
Niagara Falls, we see that Buffalo, at the bottom, received 11,000 volt, 3 phase
power, as well as some DC power too.
Ever wonder what it is like trying to stop 11,000 volts at a few thousand amperes?
Well, Figure 13 shows the results. A huge arc is generated by the circuit breaker,
used on the early Buffalo circuit. Figure 14 shows the transmission lines to Buffalo,
following the tradition of telegraph lines, the only example available at the time.
Figure 14. Repair wagon and First Buffalo transmission line. — Niagara Falls
Power Company.
Adam's Plants 1, 2, & 3
The more I looked at the old Niagara Falls map, showing the Adams plant site, the
more I realized that I could probably find it if I went looking. The librarian at the
Niagara Falls library also mentioned that one of the plants was still there as well. So
I set out to photograph the site. In Figure 15 we see the opening to the canal and the
Robert Moses Expressway that now passes over it.
Walking toward the highway and inland we can see how wide the canal is, as we
look toward the spot across the canal where Adams Plant Number Two once stcxxi.
Crossing the highway, I am now standing on the site of the original Adams Plant
Number One (Figure 16). How many people realize that it actually was there?
There are no signs commemorating the site, which was quite surprising. I started to
pick up a few rocks on the ground, knowing that they probably once were a part of
the building that housed Tesla's generators.
72
Figure 15. Robert Moses Expressway over existing Adams Plant canal - Tom Valone
Figure 16. Site of the original Adams Plant Number One - Tom Valone
73
Looking across the property of the Sewage Treatment Facillity adjacent to the canal, I
spotted a building that turned out to be Adams Plant Number Three. In Figure 17,
we see the only remaining building of the almost 100-year old trio comprising the
world's first AC power stations. It is simply fenced off, again with no sign
advertising the extraordinary significance of the building. The Niagara Falls Power
Company is now called Niagara Mohawk. An amazing article was discovered from
the February, 1962 issue of the Ontario Hydro News, page 13. In 1961, when the
Robert Moses Power Plant was opened, the original Tesla generators, which kept
working right up until then, were shut down. It was noted in the article that the
Niagara Falls Historical Society, which doesn't exist today, was trying to keep the
Adams Plant as an "electrical museum." The director of the society said, "It will be a
crime if the place is destroyed. The original generators are still there, and it is a
natural setting for an electrical museum." Since no money was obtained to buy the
buildings, both Adams Plants were razed. I am told that at least one of the
generators will be placed in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.
Figure 17. Modern day site of the original Adams Plant Number Three with
building intact. -- Thomas Valone.
Tesla Statue
The large oversized statue of Nikola Tesla stands on Goat Island in Niagara Falls,
with the only remaining part of the Adams Plant, the entrance archway, in the
background. It is the only full figure statue of Tesla in the world. Created by a
Yugoslavian sculptor, it was unveiled on July 23, 1976, commemorating the 120th
anniversary of Tesla's birth. He looks sad as we see him from the side, studying his
notes, his fingers worn from all of the kids that climb up on his lap. Most of the kids
have no idea who Tesla was, but take advantage of the statue.
74
Figrre 18. Tesla at 79 and his statue on Goat Island at Niagara Falls, NY.
In conclusion, as the world consumes about 70 million barrels/day of oil (47 million
gal/sec), it is amazing to find that this is about 1/3 of the American Falls water flow
(150.000 million gal/sec). The Niagara Falls Historical Society worked to preserve the
first Adams Plant (see next page) and failed. Today, we still have a chance to make the
third Adams Plant a beautiful commemorative site. What better tribute than to preserve
thc site of the first generation of AC power in the world? We have here a giant who
walked among men. Let us commemorate his memory in the minds of everyone by at
least establishing a Tesla Museum in the city that benefited the most from Tesla's
invention of the AC generator. We are the future now, half a century since Tesla left the
earth. As he himself said, "Let the future tell the truth and evaluate each one according to
his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which 1 really
worked, is mine."
References
[1] Puharich, Andrija. Tesla's Magnifying Transmitter, 1985, p.69. Private manuscript.
The first five chapters are reprinted elsewhere in this anthology.
[2] Radio Electronics. August, 1983, p. 52
[3] Ibid., p. 52
75
Explanation of the AC motor by Daniel Dumych. (Published by the Niagara Falls
Convention and Visitors Bureau)
5 Niagara Falls Electricity Centennial
Thomas Valone
After preparing and presenting the preceding paper, "Tesla's History in Western New
York" to the 1986 International Tesla Symposium as a special Saturday night slide show, I felt
an obligation to celebrate the 1996 centennial of Tesla's greatest achievement, in gratitude for
the electricity that my hometown of Buffalo, NY received from his work at Niagara Falls.
Therefore, carrying copies of my paper in booklet form, I made the effort in 1992 to meet
personally with Councilman John Accardo in Niagara Falls, who also was the Chairman of the
Board of the City Council of Niagara Falls. We discussed the possibility of a city-wide event
in 1996 involving the NY Power Authority, Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce, and the
City Council. We envisioned a new plaque, at least three banners across major streets of
Niagara Falls, and a few signs around town. The Tesla Memorial Society in Lackawana, NY,
Dorothy Rolling and Dan Dumych, the local historians were all very interested in
participating, as was William Terbo, the grand-nephew of Tesla. Of course, my burning
question of what will happen to the remaining Adams Plant Three could not be resolved by
Councilman Accardo, nor even by Niagara Mohawk. It is apparently embarrassing to all of
them that only the archway of the Adams Plant Number One was preserved.
Soon afterwards, perhaps in 1994, I began discussions with Steve Brady, Public Affairs
represcntative for Niagara Mohawk and Chairman of the local Foundation Committee. He told
me that Niagara Mohawk, the company which took over the original Niagara Falls Power
Company, "wants to be a part of it in any way or another." Chris Mierzwa at Niagara Mohawk
was also very interested, according to Professor Dollinger from SUNY at Buffalo, though I
never talked to him directly. Dollinger told me he wanted to include a tour of the new Robert
Moses Power plant that is north of the Falls, with a photo shoot at Goat Island, where Tesla's
statue is, as well as a lunch. However, he said that the local IEEE had no funds for such an
event. There was some discussion about also including Ontario Hydro, the Canadian electric
company that also has a generation station at the Canadian side of Niagara Falls
The most encouraging meeting I had was with Cathleen Barber, the Senior Community
Relations Representative of the New York Power Authority which runs the Niagara Power
Project at Niagara Falls. It is their decision, for example, to send most of the electricity
generated at Niagara Falls to New York City nowadays. Cathy was willing to support any date
I would select and promote it, with professors from the local universities invited. We guessed
that a one-day event with a plant tour, presentations, lunch and dinner would cost $3000 to
$5000, but it was not clear who would pay for it.
I then had a meeting with Frederick Caso, Jr. the Executive Vice President of the Niagara
F a l l s Chamber of Commerce, who was willing to offer mailing labels of members. He
suggested Congressman LaFalce, who agreed to a Congressional Record insert, much like the
one Congressman Henry Nowak created on April 28, 1981 (V. 127, No.62) commemorating
the 125th anniversary of Tesla's birth. Surprisingly, Buffalo's interest was minimal from
discussions I had with the Buffalo mayor's office and the Niagara Parnership. As 1996
approached, with no one offering assistance for the Centennial, I sent a letter to Don Glynn, a
reporter at the Niagara Gazette, to alert him to the historically significant event. Then, without
advance notice except in Niagara Falls, the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation chose to
celebrate the Centennial themselves without historians, professors nor authors. Only industrial
CEO's and politicians were there to present sterilized information and an exaggerated
absurdity about being responsible for the "energy of life." Witness the following publications.
79
80
81
82
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's
Centennial Celebration Program of Speakers
CELEBRATING A CENTURY OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY, NOVEMBER 15,1996
8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Opening reception
8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Bridging the Past to the Future
William E. Davis
Chairman and CEO
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
Thomas A. Christopher
Power Generation Business Unit
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Ronald R. Pressman
GE Power Systems
General Electric Company
10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
What is the Future of Electrical Energy in New York State?
Panel Participants:
Albert J. Budney Jr.
President
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
CD. "Rapp" Rappleyea
Chairman and CEO
New York Power Authority
Louis R. Tomson
Deputy Secretary to Governor George Pataki
The Honorable Paul Tonko
Chairman
New York State Assembly Energy Committee
11:30 a.m. to I p.m.
Luncheon
Welcoming Remarks:
Charles P. Steiner
President and CEO
Niagara Falls Area Chamber of Commerce
and
The Honorable James C. Galie
Mayor
The City of Niagara Falls
Keynote Speaker:
William E. Davis
"Electricity: Appreciating the Past, Anticipating the Future"
1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
School Awards Presentation and Ceremonial Reenactment
Attendees are invited to lake a few minutes during the conference to look at exhibits put together
by high schools from around Western New York. The exhibits highlight art, history and technology related to the 100-year anniversary event.
83
85
SECTION II
Principles of Wireless Power Transmission
In 1900, world's largest Tesla coil, 25 feet
in diameter, with a 12-million volt discharge
89
6 Effects of Testa's Life & Inventions
Andrija Puharich, MO, LLO
circa 1985
SECTION ONE
From Birth to Arrival in the U.S.
Nikola Tcsla was bom under the Austro-Hungarian empire in the village of Smiljan in the
region of Lika, in the mountains of present-day northwestern Yugoslavia. The simple little
village looks very much today as it did some one hundred and twenty years ago. His father,
Milutin, a priest of the Orthodox Serbian Church, and his mother, Djuka, received the
newborn Nikola into this world at midnight between 9 July and 10 July 1856. Although
young Nikola's life was idyllic up to the age of seven, he later wrote that during this early
formative period, he was weak and vacillating, "a slender reed moved around by every
emotional breeze." He lived in the great spaces of the mountains and benefited from his
background in the "literary" world so that he was able to read and write at a very early age. I
put the word literary in quotes because his mother had not been taught to read and write,
which was the common lot of women in that day and age.
This phase of his life was abruptly ended by the death, due to injuries suffered by a fall
from a horse, of his elder brother, Dane, age 14. So great was the shock to all in the family
that Nikola's father could not bear the familiar surroundings of Smiljan and decided to leave
the scene of the tragedy. The family moved to a nearby town, Gospic, which was noted as a
market center of some 3000 people.
The shock of his only brother's death, and the departure from the cozy familiarity of nature
had a profound effect on the seven-year-old Nikola. He suddenly became a recluse and began
to live in his father's library, and in the local library, devouring every book that he could read
and uderstand. It was during this unusual and early encounter with books that Tesla first
became aware that he possessed unusual mental powers. Much later, he gives us a glimpse of
these powers:
"In my boyhood, I suffered from a peculiar affliction due to the appearance of images,
often uccompanied by strong flashes of light, which marred the sight of real objects, and
interfered with my thought end action. They were pictures of things and scenes which I had
really seen, never of those I imagined. When a word was spoken tome, the image of the
object it designated would present itself vividly to my vision, and sometimes I was quite
unable to distinguish whether what I saw was tangible or not. This caused me great discomfort
and anxiety. None of the students of psychology or physiology whom I have consulted could
ever explain satisfactorily these phenomena. They seem to have been unique, although I was
probably predisposed, as I know that my brother experienced a similar trouble.
"The theory I have formulated is that the images were the result of reflex action from the
brain on the retina under great excitation. They certainly were not hallucinations such as are
produced in diseased and anguished minds, for in other respects I was normal and composed.
To give an idea of my distress, suppose that I had witnessed a funeral or some such nerveracking spectacle. Then, inevitably, in the stillness of night, a vivid picture of the scene would
thrust itself before my eyes and persist despite all my effort, to banish it. Sometimes it would
even remain fixed in space though I pushed my hand through it.
91
"To free myself of these tormenting appearances, I tried to concentrate my mind on
something else I had seen, and in this way I would often obtain temporary relief; but in order
to get it I had to conjure continuously new images. It was not long before I found that I had
exhausted all of those at my command; my "reel" had run out, as it were, because I had seen
little of the world-only objects in my home and the immediate surroundings.
92
*As I performed these mental operations for the second or third time in order to chase the
appearances from vision, the remedy gradually lost all its force. Then I instinctively
commenced to make exclusions beyond the limits of the small world of which I had
knowledge, and I saw new scenes. These were at first blurred and indistinct, and would flit
away when I tried to concentrate my attention upon them, but by and by I succeeded in fixing
them; they gained in strength and distinctness and finally assumed the concreteness of real
things. I soon discovered that my best comfort was attained if I simply went on in my vision
farther and farther, getting new inspirations all the time, and so I began to travel ~ of course,
in my mind. livery night (and sometimes during the day), when alone, I would start on my
JOURNEYS — see new places, cities and countries.
"I was about twelve years old when I first succeeded in banishing an image from my vision
by willful effort, but I never had any control over the flashes of light to which I have referred.
They were, perhaps, my strangest experience and inexplicable. They usually occurred when I
found myself in a dangerous or distressing situation or when I was greatly exhilarated. In
some instances I have seen all the air around me filled with tongues of living flame. Their
intensity, instead of diminishing, increased with time and seemingly attained a maximum
when I was about twenty-five years old.
"These luminous phenomena still manifest themselves from time to time, as when a new
idea opening up possibilities strikes me, but they are no longer exciting, being of relatively
small intensity. When I close my eyes I invariably observe first, a background of very dark
and uniform blue, not unlike the sky on a clear but starless night. In a few seconds this field
becomes animated with innumerable scintillating flares of green, arranged in several layers
and advancing towards me. Then there appears, to the right, a beautiful pattern of two systems
of parallel and closely spaced lines, at right angles to one another, in all sorts of colors with
yellow, green and gold predominating. Immediately thereafter the lines grow brighter and the
whole is thickly sprinkled with dots of twinkling light. The picture moves slowly across the
field of vision and in about ten seconds vanishes to the left, leaving behind a ground of rather
unpleasant and inert gray which quickly gives way to a billowy sea of clouds, seemingly
trying to mold themselves into living shapes. It is curious that I cannot project a form into this
gray until the second phase is reached. Every time, before falling asleep, images of persons or
objects flit before my view. When I see them I know that I am about to lose consciousness. If
they are absent and refuse to come, it means a sleepless night.
"To what an extent imagination played a part in my early life, I may illustrate by another
odd experience. Like most children, I was fond of jumping and developed an intense desire to
support myself in the air. Occasionally a strong wind blew from the mountains rendering my
body as light as cork and then I would leap and float in space for a long time. It was a
delightful sensation and my disappointment was keen when later I undeceived myself.
"During that period, I contracted many strange likes, dislikes and habits, some of which I
can trace to external impressions while others are unaccountable. I had a violent aversion
against the earrings of women, but other ornaments, such as bracelets, pleased me more or less
according to design. The sight of a pearl would almost give me a fit, but I was fascinated with
the glitter of crystals or objects with sharp edges and plane surfaces. I would not touch the hair
of other people except, perhaps, at the point of revolver. I would get a fever by looking at a
peach, and if piece of camphor was anywhere in the house, it caused me the keenest
discomfort. Even now I am not insensible to some of these upsetting impulses. When I drop
little squares of paper in a dish filled with liquid, I always sense a peculiar and awful taste in
my mouth. I counted the steps in my walks and calculated the cubical contents of soup plates,
coffee cups and pieces of food — otherwise my meal was enjoyable. All repeated acts or
93
operations I performed had to be divisible by three and if I missed. I felt impelled to do it all
over again, even if it took hours. "[3]
Tesla discovered at school, The lower Real Gymnasium, when he was ten, that he could
call out all arithmetical and mathematical calculations in his head just as clearly as if he were
working it all out on a blackboard. This capacity served him like a modern high-speed
computer all of his life. In 1870, at the age of fourteen, he graduated from The Real
Gymnasium and shortly thereafter had the second major shock of his life. He was swimming
in a stream with his friends wherein was anchored a long and large float. In order to surprise
his friends, he decided to dive under the float, i.e., to "disappear" and emerge at the far end.
He did not realize that he lacked the capacity to swim this length under water. So he swam as
long as he could and came up to surface for air — only to find a wooden bean against his head,
and no air. By this time he was getting frantic for lack of air, and the large build-up of carbon
dioxide in his blood further aggravated his sense of suffocation. At this point his brain was
reeling and he began to sink. Just then a flash of light illumined his mind, and he thought he
saw the planks above the beam trapping some air. He floated up to the planks, pressed his
mouth against them, and found enough air to inhale. With his lungs and brain ventilated he
was able to escape his entrapment. This close escape from death by drowning in his fourteenth
year, however, was only the prelude for a sea of troubles that plagued him for the next seven
years.
Following graduation and this near-drowning episode in 1870, he was sent to the Higher
Real Gymnasium in Karlovac, Croatia, where he lived with his uncle. Here he lost his robust
health when he contracted malaria, which racked his body with aches and fevers for the next
three years. The only control then known for malaria was quinine, and he did not know which
was more deleterious - the malaria or the quinine. We do know today that one of the most
common deleterious effects of quinine is damage to the hair cells of the hearing nerves. That
Tesla did not suffer from this kind of damage will be made evident from some of his
subsequent experiences in hearing.
However, in spite of weakness from malaria and supersensitivity to all stimuli, his three
years at Karlovac were the true beginning of his scientific work, the only life he would really
know. We begin to see in these painful years the birth of his major ideas. His teacher in
physics was Prof. Martin Sekulic who was well-informed as to what was happening on the
contemporary scientific scene, as can be gathered from his Communications to the Yugoslav
Academy of Arts and Sciences. He particularly emphasized electricity in his physics teaching.
The young Tesla was utterly fascinated as he watched Prof. Sekulic vigorously turning the
handle of a static electricity machine which developed a charge very much the way rubbing a
plastic comb with a piece of wool develops sparks. The spark output of the static machine was
then directed toward a small globe made of paper covered with metal foil balanced on the tip
of a needle so that it could freely rotate like a magnetic compass. It fascinated Tesla to
understand how the static charge is converted into a rotational motion. As he said himself,
each such demonstration set off in his mind a thousand echoes of further probing and
explorations. But his mind did not stop at the electrical forces acting on the small spinning
paper globe. He expanded this idea to include the entire terrestrial globe. He worked out a
plan to build a huge ring around the equator which would spin at the speed of some 1000
miles per hour, or as we would say today, in synchronous orbit. He planned to use this as a
means for high-speed transport around the earth and toyed with various methods of getting his
passengers on and off of his high-speed platform.
He now had two main elements working in his mind, which were to lead him on to his first
great discovery: the rotating magnetic field. He knew from simple static machine
demonstration that he had an experiment, which he could run in his head and put it on his
94
mental display screen and re-run it over and over again. Today we would say that his mind
was organized like a super-computer with all powers of analysis, integration, enormous
memory bank, and such powerful visual display of all operations that they competed with
physical events for reality quality. It was in this same period that another primordial image
entered his mind, which he was able to give birth to thirty years later. He visualized the
mighty torrent of Niagara Falls in the far-off United States/Canadian border after seeing a
postcard picture.
In his mind, he invented a mighty water wheel with which to get mechanical energy from
the falling waters. Thus, his mind's eye was endlessly working over three primordial programs
that he had to solve:
1) the bulb spun by static electricity;
2) the ring platform suspended around earth's equator;
3) the power of water turning a wheel.
After three years of intermittent illness, and the ecstasy of learning to run his powerful
mental computer, Tesla graduated from Karlovac in 1873 at the age of seventeen. Upon his
return home to Gospic, this budding genius was to enter a crossroads crisis of his life and
endure the third great shock to his entire being. He started his journey home with some sense
of foreboding because he had to face his father on the question of his future career. His father
desired strongly to have Nikola enter the life of the clergy. Nikola with equal desire and
strength of purpose wanted to become an electrical engineer.
The very day that Nikola arrived home for the showdown encounter with his father, he
contracted the dreaded cholera. He had been debilitated enough by his three-year bout with
malaria, and now cholera. He lay between life and death in bed for the next nine months with
scarcely the strength to move. How the pending problem with his father was resolved and his
health restored is tersely described by Tesla:
My energy was completely exhausted and for the second time I found myself at
death's door. In one of the sinking spells that was thought to be my last, my father
rushed into the room. I can still see his pallid face as he tried to cheer me in tones
belying his assurance. "Perhaps," I said, "I may get well if you let me study
engineering." "You will go to the best technical institution in the world," he
solemnly replied; and I knew that he meant it. A heavy weight was lifted from my
mind, but the relief would have come too late had it not been for a marvelous cure
brought about through a bitter decoction of a bitter bean. I came to life like another
Lazarus to the utter amazement of everybody. [4]
Unfortunately, we do not know what kind of bean he had been treated with. Having
survived his third great shock, Tesla had to face another major crisis as he approached the age
of eighteen. He was about to be called up as a conscript in the Austro-Hungarian Army. While
Tesla does not explicitly mention this episode in his life story, it is known from other sources
that he had no intention of becoming a military conscript. [5] This was especially more painful
in that both sides of his family had a long list of military careers to their credit, as well as
priests, of course. Having survived the family priestly pressures, he now had to survive the
family military pressures.
Since we have no reliable data to go on about how Tesla managed to escape being a
conscript, we have to reconstruct this period of his life from the historical context. We do
know that Tesla states that it was his father's idea that he should disappear into the mountains
for a time, to which proposition Tesla states that he reluctantly agreed. It so happens that my
own father was born under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, not far from the region where Tesla
95
was brought up. When my father reached the age of eighteen, he faced the same crisis as Tesla
with respect to military conscription. He did not want to become a conscript, and his father
supported his wishes. So my father disappeared into the Dinaric Alps for a year while his
father tried to buy off the military people. In this effort, he was unsuccessful. My father,
Franjo Puharich, told me that he had only two choices left since he could not hide forever. The
first was to maim himself so that he would be unfit for military service. He tells me that this
was a common practice in his day (ca. 1910). There are rumors afloat to this day amongst
people still living in Yugoslavia that Tesla attempted such self-mutilation, but this rumor
cannot be confirmed. My father told me that his second alternative was to escape abroad and
enter some country illegally. He chose the latter course, stowed away aboard a ship and
entered the U.S. as an illegal alien. In this way he escaped military conscription and
eventually became a U.S. citizen. It was some fifty years before he returned to his native land.
All we know is that Tesla spent a year in the mountains, and when his father had made the
arrangements, he enrolled as a student at the Polytechnic School in Gratz, Styria (now
Austria) in 1875. Tesla only states that the year in the mountains helped to restore his health
and gave him the freedom to pursue his grand "Gedanken," i.e., thought experiments, in his
mental laboratory. He must have put much of his life into order because he was determined to
get answered as many of his questions as he could. At Gratz, Tesla programmed himself to
study every day from 3:00 AM to 11:00 PM twenty hours of work, seven days a week. He not
only mastered the foundations of physics, mechanics and mathematics, passing his first year at
Gratz with the highest honors, but found time to further his knowledge of French, German,
Serbian, and Hungarian. He wanted to learn philosophy and decided to read Voltaire, the great
French philosopher, as written in the original French. Having committed himself to complete
this task, he found after he had started that Voltaire had written some 100 large volumes in very
small print. Having made his bargain with himself, he was bound to keep it, and thus found
the "time" to read the 100 volumes of Voltaire in his "spare time." This feat clearly shows us
the magnitude of his prodigality at the age of twenty. He saturated himself with the key
literary products of European art and science. So intense was his work and learning that he
found out later that his professors, who loved him, had secretly written to his parents asking
that somehow Nikola should be encouraged to slow down ~ lest he kill himself with
overwork.
Completing his first year at Gratz was a total triumph of his will over all obstacles. But his
second year slowed him down, not because of lack of will or mind power, but because no
scholarship aid was available in spite of his brilliance, it seemed that if ever there were a
worthy student to receive scholarship aid, it was Nikola Tesla, but the fates conspired to slow
him down. He stayed on in Gratz, auditing all the courses he could, but of course did not have
to take exams. He read in the library, and attended demonstrations in the laboratories. His
professors loved him so much that they allowed him to attend all classes even though they
knew he had not paid tuition. It was at one of these demonstrations that Professor Poeschl
showed the newly invented Gramme Dynamo, which he had received, from Paris. This was a
crude direct current generator, which had a horseshoe shaped magnet for the field, and as a
rotor turned inside it, electricity was produced. What disturbed young Tesla was the scientific
lack of aestheticism of the Gramme Dynamo. It produced electricity with much noise and
sparking at the commutator. The commutator was a set of rings on the dynamo shaft that
collected the electricity, which the turning rotor collected from passing across the magnetic
field of the horseshoe magnet. The principle here is that if a wire is moved through a magnetic
field (from the horseshoe magnet) an electric current is produced, and is passed to a ring (the
commutator) on the shaft of the rotor, and a sliding contact moving over the ring called the
brush picks up the electricity and passes it by wires to the load. So offended was Tesla's deep
96
sense of scientific elegance with the clumsiness of this arrangement that he protested to Prof.
Poeschl with the opinion that there must be a better way to accomplish the goal. To this Prof.
Poeschl replied with heavy-handed German authoritarianism, looking Tesla in the eye: "Mr.
Tesla may accomplish great things, but he certainly will never do this. It will be equivalent to
converting a steadily pulling force, like that of gravity, into a rotary effort. It is a perpetual
motion scheme, an impossible idea. " [6]
This was the challenge Tesla needed: to solve an "impossible" problem. From 1876 to 1882
he ran his prodigious mental computer laboratory over and over this problem. He admits that
by 1880 (age 24) he was beginning to realize that perhaps Prof. Poeschl might be right — the
problem might be insoluble. More of this later. In spite of his brilliance, Tesla could not solve
the simple problem of making a living --as many a genius has found out. So Tesla turned his
powerful mind to an easy way of making a living: gambling. European student life in his day
was dominated by drinking, duelling, gambling and sexual adventures. In this environment it
was always easy to enter into a gambling encounter to make money, and from this expertise
Tesla stayed on and lived at Gratz until 1879 — the year in which he would have graduated
had he been able to pay tuition. We do not know much about these years except that Tesla, in
order to support himself by gambling, billiards end cards, had to be "one of the boys", and
therefore had his share of personal indulgences. However, he learned from this experience
that his system could not tolerate coffee, and eventually abstained from it. Alcohol he was
able to tolerate in small amounts, and continued to use it as an after dinner drink for the rest of
his life. His passion for gambling during these three years became a fever, but one which he
finally conquered.
He left Gratz in 1879 to visit his family in Gospic, and no sooner had he come home then
his father died. This sad event imposed further burdens on his already threadbare poverty. As
hard and difficult as his life had been, he was determined to continue with his postgraduate
education. He felt, even by auditing courses, that he had learned everything possible at Gratz.
He decided to go to Prague (Bohemia) and enroll there in the ancient and distinguished
University of Prague. To his great disappointment he found that he did not qualify for
enrollment because he had not studied Greek in high school. In spite of this setback and
continued poverty, he persisted in learning electrical engineering by auditing courses, and, of
course, reading everything of interest in the library.
Tesla's family, of course, knew of both his great desire to learn and his equally dire
financial straits, and tried to help him. His mother's brother, Pajo Handic, was a military
officer stationed in Budapest. Pajo had a friend, Perenc Pukas, who was an executive of the
Central Telegraph Office of the Hungarian government. Through this friend, Pajo arranged a
job for his nephew. Tesla arrived in Budapest in January 1881 at the age of 24, eager to begin
his long awaited career as an electrical engineer. However, he was bitterly disappointed to
find out that the only job available was as a draftsman — work he really disliked.
Fortunately for Tesla, the new telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 had
just reached Europe, and the Hungarian government was eager to install an exchange in
Budapest. The inspector-in-chief of the Telegraph Company recognized Tesla's mathematical
and engineering talents and awarded him the job of designing the new installation. Tesla gives
every indication that he was happy with his new work for the first time and his freedom from
povcrty in Budapest was a joy.
It is puzzling to know that in January of 1882, Tesla suffered a fourth great shock: he had a
complete nervous breakdown. What is meant by this phrase needs some explanation. We have
no indication that Tesla was frustrated by his work. On the contrary, he states that in the few
months before he moved to Budapest, while still in Prague, his "mental computer" was so
free-running that he "invented" in his Gedankan experiments all of the motors and dynamos
97
for which he later became famous. But he admits that while he built the mechanical models in
his head, the underlying principle escaped him. Perhaps the unending quest for this Holy
Grail of electrical first principles haunted him more than he realized. His nervous breakdown
was in fact an exact opposite of breakdown in that it was a super sensitivity of senses and of
mind organization.
Tesla retreated from the world in that month of January 1882; he found insulation between
himself and the noisy world. He describes lying in bed and distinctly hearing the ticking of a
pocket watch — three rooms away! When a fly landed on the table beside his bed, he
experienced a dull thud in his ears. The vibrations of a carriage passing over cobblestones
several miles away wracked his body. The ground under his bed and under his feet rumbled
continuously from any sound; he felt as though he was in a continuous earthquake. If the
sun's rays accidentally fell upon him, his brain felt as though it were being clubbed; and if the
sun hit him while moving along a road where trees produced a stroboscopic effect, he felt as
though he were being engulfed in hammer blows of lightning. His whole body from time to
time was convulsed by twitching and Tremors. One could almost say that sensory stimuli
were exciting epileptic-type electrical storms throughout his brain and body.
Even today there is no way to describe how his nerves could amplify the weak electrical
signals of his sense organs. It was as though his nervous system had gone from normal
thermal level electrical conduction to super-cooled typed of electrical superconductivity [7]
The only other instance we know historically of such super sensitivity is from the lives of
certain saints who, in undergoing a kind of final refinement and purification, would enter an
ecstatic state similar to Tesla's condition.
In Tesla's case this condition of general hyper-sensitivity does not seem to have lasted for
more than a month, because he recounts that with the aid of his devoted athletic friend, Antal
Szigety, he began to recover. Szigety insisted that Tesla get out of bed; he walked him, and
exercised him. Tesla later admits that in the recesses of his awesome computer mind was the
solution to his quest - the perfect alternating current motor, but he could not reach it. Perhaps
he let his body enter a higher dimension of sensitivity in order to find the solution. But it is
Tesla who must describe this ultimate experience culminating the quest of his life to this
moment. The climax and recovery of health rapidly came in February 1882; we do not know
the exact date:
"A powerful desire to live and to continue the work, and the assistance of a devoted friend
and athlete (Antal Szigety), accomplished the wonder. My health returned and with it the
vigor of my mind, hi attacking the problem again, I almost regretted that the struggle was
soon to end. I had so much energy to spare. When I undertook this task, it was not with a
resolve such as men often make. With me, it was a sacred vow, a question of life and death. I
knew that I would perish if I failed. Now I felt that the battle was won. Back in the deep
recesses of the brain was the solution, but I could not yet give it outward expression".
"One afternoon, which is ever present in my recollection, I was enjoying a walk with my
friend in the City Park and reciting poetry. At that age, I knew entire books by heart, word for
word. One of these was Goethe's Faust. The sun was just setting and reminded me of the
glorious passage:
"Sie ruckt und weicht, der tag is uberlebt,
Dort eilt sie bin und fordert neues Leben.
Oh, dass kein flugel mich vom Boden hebt
Ihr nach und immer nach zu streben!
Bin schoner Traum indessen sie entweicht,
Ach, ru des Geistes Flugeln wird so leicht
98
Keinen korperlicher Flugel sich gesellen!"
Translation:
"The glow retreats, done is the day of toil:
It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
Upon its track to follow, follow soaring
A glorious dream! though now the glories fade,
Alas, the wings that lift the mind, no aid
Of wings to lift the body can bequeath me!"
"As I
uttered these inspiring words; the idea came like a flash of lightning and in an
instant
the truth was revealed. I drew with a stick on the sand the diagram shown six years later in
my addrcss before The American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and my companion
understood them perfectly. The images I saw were wonderfully sharp and clear and had the
solidity of metal and stone, so much so that I told him: 'See my motor here; watch me reverse
it.' I cannot begin to describe my emotions, Pygmalion seeing his statue come to life could not
have been more deeply moved. A thousand secrets of nature, which I might have stumbled
upon uccidentally, I would have given for that one which I had wrestled from her against all
odds, and at the peril of my existence."
What did Tesla visualize in his computer that had solved his agonizing problem of how
to
make an alternating current motor of aesthetic design? While Tesla was the first human being
to have the vision of a rotating magnetic field, subsequently many engineers and scientists
have been able to have this vision due to subsequent detailed scientific expositions being
made of the phenomenon. Let us try to recapture Tesla's vision of February 1882 when he was
all of 25 years old. Please refer to Figure 2.
AC-1 shows the representation of a normal sine wave. This can represent the rise and fall
(M) of a wafer wave, and its travel to the right; or it can represent the rise and fall of an
electric current from positive (+) charge state (up) to negative (-) charge state (down) and
direction ( -> ) of travel; it can represent the swing of a magnetic wave from north pole (+) to
south pole (-), and direction of travel. The rise end fall is shown by degrees on a 360° scale
Just as in a circle, and one complete cycle is 360°. The rise phase in AC-1 is positive (+) from
0° to 90°; then the falling positive (+) phase is from 90° to 180° where it reaches zero value,
0, neither (+) or (-). This completes half a cycle of the sine wave.
From 180° the wave goes from 0 value down to full negative (-) value at 270°; from 270°
the value goes from full negative (-) up to zero at 360° This completes a full cycle of action
that has the form of a sine wave. Many phenomena in nature follow this cyclical pattern. Of
immediate interest is that this is the way an alternating current (AC) is displayed on an
osciloscope in a two-dimensional plane. However, if one saw this AC wave as it exists in
nature, and as Tesla undoubtedly saw it in his mental visual display computer, it looks more
like a corkscrew in three dimensions. If the direction of travel is from left to right (-> ), then
components of the AC point in different directions. The magnetic component of the electromagnetic AC wave points upward in the plane of the paper where the arrow is marked M.
The electric component of the electro-magnetic AC wave paints directly down through the
paper (perpendicular to the plane of the paper).
What Tesla knew, and other scientists knew, was that if one placed a second alternating
current in a circuit, AC-2, leading AC-1 by 90° this is called a phase difference; certain effects
would occur which could be used to turn a magnet that was suspended like a compass needle.
99
Let us begin to build up the vision that Tesla had of the rotating magnetic field using the
simple elements we have given.
Referring to Fig. 3, place a compass an the center of the circle over the part marked
magnetic bar rotor. Line up the compass needle, and the line of the magnetic bar rotor so that
they both point north. Now take bar of iron a pocket knife blade will do - and bring it close
enough to the north pole of the compass needle so that the needle can be moved. Now move
the knife point along the rim of the compass so that the needle moves first to 0° (north) and
then to 90° (east). Practice guiding the compass needle so that you can move it smoothly first
from 0° to 90° then from 0° to 180°; then from 0° to 270° then the complete circle from 0° to
360°. This in effect is how an alternating current motor works. Your hand 16 the alternating
current that goes through a full cycle (or circle) of 360°, and it guides the magnetic component
of the alternating current (the iron bar, or knifeblade), i.e., a magnetic field. In such a way that
its force produces a torque, or rotation on a rotor (the compass needle). Now this part is easy.
What Tesla had to solve was how to produce the magnetic field whirlwind around the circle of
the rotor without any mechanical motion to create the magnetic field. The vision he had can
now be visualized by us.
Referring to Figure 3, remove the compass and note the two circles, each of which is
eccentric to the circle around the magnetic rotor bar: and further note at 90°and 180° that the
circles are 90° out of phase with each other. Each of these circle, represents one cycle of an
alternating current, AC-1, and AC-2 (as in Fig 2), but now shown as a complete cycle in the
form of a circle rather than a sine wave. Now to visualize what Tesla saw: imagine circle AC- i
1 to be a hula hoop of blue color and watch it go around a person, or better still, watch a child
swing a hula hoop an his hips. You can now see and feel the swing of a magnetic loop around
a central rotor circle. Referring to Fig. 3, note that the outer circle represents the (+) swing of
a sine wave and its perimeter the maximum (900 as in Fig. 1 AC-1) north pole magnetic field
strength. The inner perimeter circle shows the (-) swing of a sine wave and represents the
100
south pole maximum magnetic field strength (270° as in Fig. 1 AC-1). Between these two
maxima there is a circle, which represents zero magnetic field strength (0° and 180° as in Fig.
1 AC-1).
Now we add a second hula hoop (AC-2), which leads the first hula hoop (AC-1) by 90°,
and get them both spinning around the hips. See Fig. 3. As long as the two hula-hoops
maintain their 90° phase difference, we have the identical condition of magnetic field
whirlwind that Tesla saw in his vision. However, using his prodigious calculating capacity,
Tesla could plot the magnetic field strength relations for every instant of time, and for every
degree of the circle - and compute the field effect on the magnetic bar rotor in producing
mechanical rotation and power. For example, if we take an instant of time at 90° to see what
the magnetic field strengths are of AC-1 and AC-2 in Fig. 2, we see the following: Since AC2 peak magnetic field strength is at 180° with respect to AC-1 (see Fig. 3), it will pull the
s o u t h pole of the rotor clockwise toward it. Since there is inertial, or resistance in the rotor it
will lag the maximum magnetic field strength of AC-2 by some degrees. Since AC-1 is going
in a falling phase of magnetic field strength (going from 90° to 180° Fig. 2) its pull on the
rotor is weakening, allowing the latter to follow AC-2. Since the magnetic field strengths of
AC-1 and AC-2 are additive between 90° and 180° (Figs. 1 and 3) or at 135° - maximum
north magnetic field strength - the rotor will be found at this part of the circle at this instant.
As the two hula-hoops of magnetic field strength sweep around they will pull the rotor with
them, just as if the hand were moving a magnet around a compass needle. Not only did Tesla
see this immaterial set of magnetic forces spinning around, hut he encased them with the
proper mechanicals - the shaft with its mechanical racer; the field coil structure surrounding
the rotor. Then he encased these mechanicals with the right materials - the iron for the
magnetic cares, which he wound with the proper copper wire coils. Then he devised the
proper geometry and circuits that connected all the coils, which guaranteed the proper phase
101
differences between AC-1 and AC-2. Then he set the motor running in his hcad, and quietly
saw that by throwing one switch he could reverse the phase between AC-1 and AC-2 so that
AC-1 now leads AC-2 by 90° — and presto-the motor smoothly reversed direction! His grand
design was done - he had grasped the principle of the rotating magnetic field, and given it
physical embodiment in a working model - all on the visual display computer screen in his
mind.
In the fall of 1882 Tesla moved to Paris, hoping to work for the French branch of Thomas
Alva Edison's Continental Electric Company. He was able to bring with him his good friend
and now master mechanic, Antal Szigety, as an assistant. He readily obtained the job he
sought. However, work demands prevented him from building his new invention in the flesh
of iron, steel and copper. It was not until the summer of 1883 when he and Szigety were sent
to Strasbourg to do some motor repairs chat they had the time and a machine shop in which to
build the first physical alternating current motor. The test was an instant success, and followed
faithfully in performance the model that Tesla had been running on his mental computer
screen. He was now 27 years old with a proven theoretical and practical solution of the
mission declared impossible by his erstwhile Professor Poeschl.
Tesla was kept busy in Strasbourg until the spring of 1884, when he returned to Paris.
There he enlisted the interest of the Paris manager of the Edison works, Mr. Batchellor. Mr.
Batchellor recognized his genius and the value of his invention; and urged him to go to
America to work with the great Mr. Edison. Tesla accepted this invitation, and prepared to
leave Paris. At the Paris train station, he discovered to his horror that his baggage, his
transatlantic passage tickets, and his wallet had been stolen! As the train began to pull out, he
had to make a choice: should he chance getting on the train and the boar — or cancel his
journey? He chose to leap aboard the train. When no one showed up to take his place on the
steamship, he was allowed to board. And so he was on his way across the ocean to an
unknown land, but one to which all immigrants in 1880's believed was the land of promise
and of gold. He landed at Ellis Island in New York Harbor on June 6, 1884 with four cents in
his pocket. But he had in his pocket a letter from Mr. Batchellor introducing him to Mr.
Edison, which said in part:
"I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man."
SECTION TWO
From Darkness to Light
The period from age 28 (1884) where Tesla is penniless and homeless, digging ditches in
New York City to survive - to the age of 35 (1892) when he becomes the most famous
inventor in the world, is a millionaire, socially lionized, and honored by all of the great
scientists in London. It is difficult to find in the life of any contemporary person one who has
gone through so many transformations in seven years as did Tesla from 1884 to 1892, age 28
to 35. With four cents in his pocket, and his letter of introduction, he found his way to
Edison. This meeting could have been the break that Tesla needed, because Edison, as a
patron, could have given him all the opportunity necessary to realize his dreams. It is an irony
of history that the two men net at all, because, temperamentally, they were at opposite poles.
Tesla with his great scientific mind was systematically seeking first principles in nature end
using his inventions as tools for deeper, more refined probing. Edison had the great mind that
could find associative relations between material systems, which resulted in new inventions
as an end in itself. Tesla's mind was seeking to understand the architecture of nature with
102
geometrical comprehension. Edison followed each clue of nature from point to point with
linear reduction to practice.
Much has been written about the nine-month period when Tesla worked for Edison.
Suffice it to say that Edison was committed to a future electrical technology based on direct
current - from batteries and direct current generators. He had perfected the incandescent lamp
and was trying to create a marker for it — and to do this he had to supply electricity. In order
to do this, he had to create DC power stations aboard ships, in cities, and for factories. In this
Edison was successful, and power stations were being built rapidly as the United States
became electrified. Furthermore, the financial backing of J.P. Morgan was securely behind the
Edison ventures which assured success.
Against this array of industrial growth and financial power stood the tall, thin Tesla with
his visions of using alternating current to industrialize and power the earth. He tried to catch
Edison's attention by performing meticulously and creatively as an engineer. In this he
succeded and won Edison's highest compliments. But when he tried to open up a
conversation about his ideas on alternating current, Edison would not listen. Edison had
made up his mind that the future electrification of the world would be with direct current.
Tesla became discouraged realizing that he would have to develop his ideas on his own, and
left the employ of Edison. Little did Edison realize that his lowly employee would soon
become his greatest and most worthy technological and business opponent. The war of the
giants was in the making.
Tesla had made such a powerful impression on other Edison employees that they offered
to finance his inventions. Accordingly, the Tesla Electric light and Manufacturing Company
was founded in March of 1885, in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City.
Tesla now had a modest amount of capital, but he could not begin work on his beloved AC
motor because his backers wanted him first to develop commercially saleable arclights for
street lighting. This he did, and soon he was filing a stream of patents. But his success was
short-lived. As the great financial depression of 1886 clamped down on the U.S., his new
company was forced into bankruptcy.
Now in the 30th year of his life, just as the possibility of the successful realization of his
motor was tantalizingly held before him, Tesla was thrown into a pit of despair. There was no
work to be had, although occasionally Tesla was able to get a job digging ditches in New
York City, as public works for sewers and water mains continued during the depression. He
had no place to live and slept wherever he could get shelter for the night. He later spoke of
living "through a year of terrible heartaches and bitter tears." It must have seemed pure torture
to toil in a ditch, when he did have work, and at the same time to run his mental computer in
the dazzling images of his colorful and poetic rotating magnetic fields. Fortunately, in the
ditch with him was his foreman — also working out of his field just to keep alive. As the two
men sat together eating their meager lunches, Tesla poured out his dreams and inventions.
Tesla did not realize it then, but his fellow worker was the magical connection to A.K. Brown
of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Almost miraculously, under Brown's initiative,
the foreman's faith, and Tesla's total conviction in his vision, The Tesla Electric Company was
formed in April 1887 within competing distances of the shops of the Edison Company.
Tesla's working capital, in the form of a loan, was $500,000. In today's monetary values, this
had the purchasing power often times that amount.
Tesla had been like pent-up lion for the past five years - ever since he understood the
principle of the rotating magnetic field. But whether he was building telephone systems in
Budapest, repairing DC motors and generators in Paris or Strasbourg, designing motors for
Edison in New York City, or digging ditches, his powerful visual display computer was
developing new designs and refining them. Thus, it was that when he obtained his laboratory,
103
he produced an explosion of devices and patents such as had never been seen before in such a
short time.
What Tesla did was to design a system to produce alternating currcnt distribute it over
large distances, end utilize it in motors and lamps. He worked out every crucial detail of this
system to such perfection that, to this day, his technology and concepts dominate AC systems
virtually unchanged. His system is called the: "Tesla Polyphase System" because, following
the conception portrayed in Figures 2 and 3 of using the 90° phase difference between two
alternating current, to generate the "hula hoop" rotating magnetic field, he added more pairs
of hula hoops, up to 384, to the field. This had the same effect as adding more pistons to a
gas engine: it gave greater and smoother rotatory power (torque) to the motors. Thus, he built
fields around his rotors, which had hundreds of "hula hoops" rotating, each pair with a precise
number of degrees of phase difference from its neighbor. See appendix for Tesla patents
illustrations.
With the rapid issuance of one patent after another from the U.S. patent Office, the world of
electrical scientists suddenly became aware that a new luminary — a new Faraday of
electricity - was in their midst. Correspondence and interviews suddenly made heavy
demands upon Tesla's twenty hour days. A year later on May 16, 1888, Tesla gave the first of
his famous lectures at Columbia University, New York City, under the auspices of the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers [1] Here he revealed and demonstrated the full
sweep of his polyphase alternating current system. The electrical world was amazed at his
revelations. The insoluble problem had been solved: alternating current could be transmitted
far hundreds of miles for industrial usage — compared to a mile or two by Edison's system. As
Tesla was being applauded for his victory, the Edison forces were preparing interests massive
counterattack against this threat to their vested interests.
In this lecture Tesla received not only scientific and academic recognition, but also
industrial recognition. About a month after the lecture the founder of Westinghouse electric,
George Westinghouse, came to see Tesla at his laboratory. Without much negotiation,
Westinghouse bluntly offered to buy up all of Tesla's polyphase system patents for one
million dollars in cash. Tesla said he would accept the offer if Westinghouse also paid a
royalty of one dollar per horsepower of motors produced. Westinghouse agreed, and the deal
was made. Thus, in two tumultuous years, Tesla went from the despair of ditch digging to
world renown for his genius and independence.
What did this shift of status and recognition do to Tesla? First, he paid back the half
million-dollar loan that had made his success possible. The rest of the money he used to
support his laboratory and future research. But, as part of his contract, he was to go to
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and work with the Westinghouse engineers to develop the
production prototypes of the various parts of the polyphase system. However, here Tesla
teamed something about himself: it was not possible for him to gear down his mind and work
to the pace of other mortals. He felt stifled, irritated, and less-than-creative. During this
period of self-assessment, Tesla learned still more about himself. He could not accommodate
his mind, emotions, or actions to any human being. The drummer that he marched to beat a
rhythm uniquely solo to Nikola Tesla. He knew now that total dedication to his calling, and
total celibacy, were to be his way of life.
In order to consolidate his new role in life as a wanted, famous person, and his own desire
for privacy, he decided to return to Europe after a five-year absence and re-formulate his
entire working philosophy. The past five years of poverty and creative effort had exhausted
his reserves, and so, when Tesla returned in 1889 to his native bika, he went into retreat at the
Gomirje monastery. This was curious since Tesla had fought for years to keep away from
organized religion. One wonders if he did not contemplate withdrawal from the world into a
104
monastic life. But his decision must have been to go back to live in the world and yet
remain
apart - because he returned to New York City in January 1890.
In 1890 established a pattern of life, which he was to keep up, whether rich or poor,
to the end of his days. He moved into a private suite at the best hotel in New York City - the
famed Waldorf-Astoria that was then at 34th street - the site of the Empire State Building. His
elegant six foot, two inches, 140-pound body was encased in the most fashionable tailored
clothes. Those he always wore, whether in the laboratory, or at a fancy dinner party. He
worked at his laboratory from 9 AM until about 6 PM. At the Waldorf when he appeared at 8
PM he insisted that only the headwaiter should wait on him, and all food was especially
prepared under his meticulous directions. He dined alone, unless he was giving a banquet for
his friends. E'very aspect of the meal had to pass his scrutiny for an almost "Kosher" rigidity
of preparation. The headwaiter could not touch any dish or food without the interposition of a
fresh napkin between hand and dish. Tesla himself handled everything with a dozen or two
eleven napkins during a meal— each napkin being used once and discarded.
Tesla, the former ditch digger, gambler, and billiard professional, could no longer tolerate
physical contact with another human. He never shook hands with a person. The mere contact
with human skin gave him the sensation akin to an allergic reaction; the energy of others was
like poison entering his blood.
Yet in spite of the noxious quality he felt emanating from all persons, and his fear of germ
contamination, he was considered absolutely charming and thoroughly sociable in his reserved
and aloof way. This paradox gave his personality an incredible attractive power in society.
Men trusted him. Women found him attractive and charming with no physical undertone. He
was Lionized by the social "400" families of New York at that time. His resolve to be
celibate, ascetic, and dedicated to his work was forever under attack. He did occasionally
attend parties from 8 PM to 10 PM and then left to go to his laboratory. If he had a new
electrical effect to demonstrate, his select friends would troop in evening clothes and gowns to
his laboratory just south of Washington Square.
Here he would astound them with his Promethean displays of electrical fire and his light
displays — where he would pick up a long glass tube without wires, and it would light up in
his hands. He had a great sense of drama and many thought that his laboratory was the best
theater in New York. But the dinners at the Waldorf, the fancy clothes, the Tesla Theater were
only small dues, which he paid to his adulating society. The real Tesla inside returned to his
laboratory after the 10 PM dinner and went to work until 3 AM. Here in the stillness of his
laboratory he pursued his vision secretly. It is only years later that we are able to piece
together what was really going on in that most magnificent of laboratories: the mind of Tesla.
What the world saw from Tesla were a series of inventions, each of which would have
been the climax of a lifetime of work for an inventor. But what no one knew was that Tesla
was only developing new tools in order to explore deeper and deeper into the mysteries of
electricity.
What he had in mind was to build the tools that could produce any kind of electricity he
desired. First, he wanted to explore the various frequencies of electricity. He knew that
electricity must have different qualities when the number of cycles per second changed, or
increased. Therefore, he had to invent machines that would produce electricity smoothly over
the range from one cycle per second (now called Hertz, or Hz) through tens per second,
hundreds per second, and so on up to light frequencies. But he was the only one on the planet
earth who had the total scientific approach for producing these frequencies at this time.
First, he invented and built a series of alternating current generators, which allowed him to
reach frequencies of tens of thousands of cycles per second. Here he mastered all the
problems of building copper coils to produce the magnetic fields that would turn the rotors,
105
winch produced alternating current. Here he solved the complex geometries of magnets, coils,
and windings that produced the desired frequencies. But he learned the limitations of the
production of AC waves by the rotating generator. He found that magnetic coils produced
such high self-induction that they damped electromagnetic oscillations so much that the higher
frequencies neither could nor be produced. In order to solve this problem, he came upon his
next greet invention, which is called the Tesla Coil. The invention is utter simplicity itself, but
no one had seen the solution before him.
Since the days of Faraday, experimenters had obtained different frequencies and different
voltages of electricity by means of an inductance coil. This device uses a battery as a direct
current source. A long wire coming from one terminal of the battery is coiled like a spring
upon a round stick of iron, and then the other end of the wire is connected back to the other
terminal of the battery. The electric current coursing through this coil (called a primary coil)
produces a magnetic field in the iron care. This magnetic field can be used to energize a
second call wrapped around the primary coil, and a current will be induced in the secondary
coil. The value of such induced currents is that the voltage can be markedly increased in the
transference of energy from the primary to the secondary in a definite ratio, which is
proportional to the number of wire turns between the secondary and the primary. Far
example,
1000 turns secondary = JO ratio =10:1 voltage step-up
100 turns primary
1
So if you put 100 volts DC into the primary, you can get 1000 volts DC out of the
secondary. Furthermore, to get a pulsed DC current out of the induction coil, one interrupts
the DC current with a kind of telegraph-key switch, and one would now have an "interrupted
current."
Now Tesla would produce nice sine waves (he called them harmonic waves) out of his AC
generator, and then in order to increase their voltage he would use an induction coil to exceed
the peak voltage output of his generator. Yes, he would get higher voltages, but he would
mess up his nice sine waves of alternating current end get chopped up pulses from the coil
output. (See Fig. 4.) He solved this problem by using a simple device called the Leyden Jar,
which had been around longer than the induction coil. The Leyden Jar can be simply
described as an open glass cup whose outside is lined with metal foil. This geometric form of
an insulator (glass) lined with foil (as conductor) has the property of being able to store a large
amount of electric charge, and furthermore, to discharge it quietly. This Leyden Jar is more
formally known as a condenser. Lord Kelvin had studied the properties of the condenser and
had described them in an elegant mathematical formulation. Tesla knew this Kelvin
formulation. He suspected it had the key to his problem. The details of Tesla's solution are
well known to every physics student today, and we will try to explain it in layman's language.
Just as Tesla had placed two AC waves 90 degrees out of step to create the hula hoop rotating
magnetic field, so he knew that in any single AC wave there were two components within that
wave that were 90 degrees out of step: in any AC wave the current lags the voltage by 90
degrees. Now the voltage can be likened to the pressure, which a tall column of water exerts;
and the current is the amount of water in that column. Obviously, if we keep the amount of
water constant (volume) we can increase or decrease the pressure it exerts by changing the
height of the column. Now Tesla further knew that the current in a magnetic coil is 90
degrees out of phase with the current in a condenser, now called a capacitor. It is as though
one held two glasses, on in each hand, one of which is filled with water. Now the glass in the
left hand is held vertically and is empty. The glass in the right hand is filled with water and is
106
tippcd so that it is at right angles (or 90 degrees) to the glass in the left hand. As the right
hand glass is tipped it will empty water into the left hand glass. If we rock the two glasses
(always held at right angles to each other) back and forth, the water will slosh back and forth
betwecn the two in a smooth harmonic transfer. The water, of course, is to be likened to the
amount of electric charge held first in the magnetic field coil (right hand), and then
transferred to the capacitor, or condenser (left hand). The rate at which the electrons can be
sloshed back and forth between the coil and the condenser becomes the frequency of the
oscillation of the alternating current. It so happens, by the laws of nature, that the timing of
the filling up and emptying of the condenser with electrons can be precisely determined by
two values. The first is by the electron charge-carrying capacity of the insulator (the dielectric
constant); and the second is by the surface area of the metal foil conductor covering the
insulator. These two factors give a precise time constant for the charge/discharge cycle of a
given capacitor; and when mated to an equivalent time constant for the coil (inductance),
Tesla could precisely control the peak frequency of any given coil, and thus produce his
smooth harmonic sine wave alternating current Once he had perfected his "Tesla coil", he
could produce any frequency of electricity of any potential, or power level, he desired. He
now had the cools to find out about the nature of electricity.
He knew the great equations of Clerk Maxwell which said that electric waves were
identical to light waves. [3] In 1887 Heinrich Hertz had shown that by using an interruptor
spark mil he could produce electric waves that behaved like light waves. But what Tesla
wanted to do was to produce elegant sine waves octave upon octave from the very low
frequcncies (8 Hz) up to light waves (9 million million Hz) and find out what was the deep
inner secret of light and electricity. He had two driving insights to check out. The first was his
interest in lord Kelvin's theory that all of life's processes are electrical, and that there is an
unknown force in the organism that guides and integrates such electrical effects. The second
was his endless fascination with his power to visualize all experiences and to create his great
inventions upon his mental computer display screen. Between bioelectricity and light, he
107
hoped not only to master the forces of nature, but also to divine the nature of life itself. He
hints at these goals in his famous Franklin Institute Lecture (1893): [4]
"In all this vast world, of all objects our senses reveal to us, the most marvelous, the most
appealing to our imagination, appears no doubt a highly developed organism, a thinking
being.
"Again in all the perfect harmony of its parts, of the parts which constitute the material or
tangible of our being, of all its organs and senses, the eye is the most wonderful. It is the one,
which is in the most intimate relation with that which we call Intellect. So intimate is this
relation, that it is often said the very soul shows itself in the eye.
"But there is something else about the eye which impresses us still more than these wonderful
features - an optical instrument of being directly affected by the vibrations of the medium. (In
Tesla's day "the medium" meant the aether.) This is its significance in the processes of life.
"A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in by-gone times may
have altered the course of his life, may have changed the destiny of nations, may have
transformed the surface of the globe, so intricately, so inconceivably complex are the
processes in nature. In no way can we get such an overwhelming idea of the grandeur of
nature as when we consider that, in accordance with the law of the conservation of energy,
throughout the infinite, the forces are in a perfect balance.
Hence, even a single thought may determine the motion of a universe. "
Thus, out of the toils and coils of the laboratory, we perceive that Tesla is a really only
developing better tool with which to ask more profound questions of nature. Having
developed sources of alternating current and the Tesla coils to produce any frequency or
voltage of alternating current, Tesla now proceeded to use these tools to produce light. He
produced every known form of light in those few years, from low frequency flickers (20-30
pulses per second) of phosphorescent materials, through incandescence of solids, liquids, and
gases, to X-rays and, eventually, cosmic rays. He explored the entire spectrum of radiant
energy known to man today - all before 1892. He studied the illumination of every kind of
gas at his disposal under high pressures, atmospheric pressures, low pressures, and high
vacuum. Since he made little attempt to exploit these discoveries commercially, it has long
been a puzzle as to why he pursued these arcane studies.
We find the clue in his third great lecture in 1892 in London: [5]
"Such discharges of very high frequencies, which render luminous the air at ordinary
pressures, we have probably often occasioned to witness in nature. I have no doubt that if, as
many believe, the Aurora Borealis is produced by sudden cosmic disturbances, (such as
eruptions at the sun's surface, which set the electrostatic charge of the earth in an extremely
rapid vibration) the red glow observed is not confined to the upper rarefied strata of the air,
but the discharge traverses, by reason of its very high frequency, also the dense atmosphere in
the form of a plow, such as we ordinarily produce in a slightly exhausted tube. If the
frequency were very low the dense air would break down as in a lightning discharge."
Now we begin to see what Tesla is doing. He has calculated in his superb mental
laboratory the various gases that exist around the earth at various altitudes, and their
108
respective pressures. He has discovered that he can duplicate on the laboratory bench, effects
at any altitude around the earth -- lightning, Aurora Borealis, clouds, night glows, etc. He has
discovered that high frequency alternating current under vacuum pressures becomes superconducting, and that therefore he can use the ionosphere as a conduit. He has discovered, on
the contrary, that very low frequencies neither do nor conduct well, especially in the
stratosphere and clouds, and that here they build up their energy into accumulated static
electrical charge. He is beginning to think of an attempt to control the gigantic forces of
nature - weather modification! Tesla is beginning to wonder if the earth has an electrical
charge. Does the sun have an electrical charge? Suppose, he thinks, if these too bodies are
charged, I can perhaps modulate the electrostatic force of the ball of the earth with low
frequencies, and this may in turn draw energy from the sun by sympathetic vibration. He is
already thinking of drawing more energy from the solar system, from the cosmos. That he is
so thinking we know from his later (1900) article "Talking with the Planets", but we are not
yet ready to understand the far reaches of his mind.
While Tesla is exploring the ionosphere laboratory equivalent with high frequency
currents, he is exploring the earth as a conductor for very low frequencies. He hints at many
expertments using the earth se a conductor. He is beginning to think that the earth has a
resonance to electrical waves somewhere around 10 Hz, but he has not yet explored it. But
now he wonders what the effect of such extra-low frequencies (ELF) will be upon living
thing - if he is to use the earth as a conductor. He begins to explore the effects on himself.
He repeatedly demonstrates that he can pass over a millions volts of high frequency current
through his body with safely, even though his body will be engulfed in a complete sheet of
electrical fire. [7] Since he knows the limits of safety here, he explores the low frequencies
109
111
I am convinced that this remarkable invention, which never found any practical use, is
Tesla's model of how the earth would behave if properly charged, or how the sun would
behave if influenced by the charge on earth. Tesla never tells us what he may have found
when he used two or more rotating brush bulbs as a model of the sun and planetary
interactions. In its simplest interpretation, the central small bulb S represents the
magnetosphere sheath that surrounds the earth, and the globe L represents the conducting
ionosphere, and the intervening space is the atmosphere. But some seven more years were to
pass before Tesla could test this model on a planetary scale.
In this period, 1892, Tesla worked feverishly to comprehend the vast scheme of nature that
he was trying to unravel and, hopefully, to control. Besides overwork he was also using his
own body mercilessly as a guinea pig in his experiments. One of the effects (which we now
recognize as the result of repeated electro shock therapy) is a loss of memory for recent
events. Tesla writes of such an experience:
"I will tell of an extraordinary experience, which may be of interest to students of
psychology. I had produced a striking phenomenon with my ground transmitter and
was endeavoring to ascertain its true significance in relation to the currents
propagated through the earth. It seemed a hopeless undertaking and for more than a
year I worked unremittingly but in vain. This profound study so entirely absorbed
me that I became forgetful of everything else, even of my undermined health. At
last, as I was on the point of breaking down. Nature applied the preservative,
inducing lethal sleep.
Regaining my senses, I realized with consternation that I was unable to visualize
scenes from my life except those of infancy, the very first ones that had entered my
consciousness. Curiously enough, these appeared before my vision with startling
distinctness and afforded me welcome relief. Night after night when retiring, I
112
would think of them and more and more of my previous existence was revealed.
The image of my mother was always the principal figure in the spectacle that slowly
unfolded, and a consuming desire to see her again gradually took possession of me.
This feeling grew so strong that I resolved to drop all work and satisfy my longing.
But I found it too hard to break away from the laboratory, and several months
clapsed during which I succeeded in reviving all the impressions of my past life up
to the spring of 1892.
In the next picture that came out of the mist of oblivion, I saw myself at the Hotel
de la Pair in Paris just coming to from one of my peculiar sleeping spells caused by
prolonged exertion of the brain. Imagine the pain and distress I felt when it flashed
upon my mind that a dispatch was handed to me at that very moment hearing the sad
news that my mother was dying.
It was especially remarkable that all during this period of partially obliterated
memory I was fully alive in everything touching on the subject of my research. I
could recall the smallest details and the least insignificant observations in my
experiments and
recite pages of texts and complex mathematical formulae." [9]
Tesla foresaw this event in late 1891 while working in New York City in February 1892 he
gave his famous London Lecture, and from there went to Paris to give a lecture to the French
Society of Electrical engineers. As he returned from the second lecture to his hotel, he was
handed a telegram informing him of his mother's coming death. He caught the next train home
to Gospic and arrived their lust in time to see her off this plane of existence. This was the fifth
great shock in Tesla's life. If was all the more tragic in that it came at the very pinnacle of
fame, fortune, and self-satisfaction with his work. At age 35 he seemed to have everything,
but when lost his mother, the only person he loved, he collapsed. Overwork, anxiety, selfexperimentation, travel, his mother's death - all combined into another one of his grave
illnesses, which kept him in bed for weeks. During this period of enforced recuperation
Tesla's review of his life program continued. He did not like; what he saw on his mind's
screen. He had been too indulgent with himself. He had allowed himself to be idolized and
lionized. He was creeping into commercialism beyond his immediate and real needs. He had
not penetrated nature's secret - he had only, like Edison, proliferated gadgets and toys. He
resolved to let the world go by, to be true to his calling, to lead a more spartan and stoic life and to do it alone.
While convalescing, Tesla returned to the mountains where he had spent his nineteenth
year in solitude. He tells how his inspiration came to put may of his ideas together: [10]
"I sought shelter from an approaching storm. The sky became overhung with heavy
clouds, but somehow the rain was delayed until, all of a sudden, there was a
lightning flash, and a few minutes after, a deluge. This observation set me thinking.
It was manifest that the two phenomena were closely related as cause and effect, and
a little reflection led me to the conclusion that the electrical energy involved in the
precipitation of the water was inconsiderable, the function of lightning being much
like that of a sensitive trigger. Here was a stupendous possibility of achievement, If
we could produce electrical effects of the required quality, this whole planet and the
conditions of existence on it could be transformed. The sun raises the water on the
oceans, and winds drive it to distant regions where it remains in a state of most
delicate balance. If it were in our power to upset it when and wherever desired, this
mighty life-sustaining stream could be, at will, controlled. We could irrigate arid
deserts, create lakes and rivers, and provide motive power in unlimited amounts.
113
This would be the most efficient way of hernessing the sun to the uses of man. The
consummation depended on our ability to develop electric forces of the order of
those in Nature. It seemed a hopeless undertaking; but I made up my mind to try it,
and immediately on my return to the United States in the summer of 1892, work was
begun."
By his 36th birthday, he had moved out of the opulent Waldorf-Astoria and into the
smaller Hotel Gerlach on 27th Street. With his new resolve, he plunged again into a merciless
schedule as the new superman who would control the secrets of Nature.
SECTION THREE
Titanic Forces Released On Earth By Tesla
1892 - 1899
Age 36 to 43 Years
While Tesla made a serious attempt to lead a more pure life of monasticism, celibacy, and
science, the world would not leave him alone. On the one hand, he had determined during his
recent visit to his homeland in the Balkans that he would try to invent the "trigger" that could
control the weather forces of Nature. Toward this goal he made invention after invention
which was to culminate (1899) in the super-giant Tesla Coil, which he named "The
Magnifying Transmitter"- His philosophy at this time (1893) is best summarized by a
statement he made in 1919:
"My belief is firm in a law of compensation. The true rewards are ever in proportion
to the labor and sacrifices made. This is one of the reasons why I feel certain that of
all my inventions, the Magnifying Transmitter will prove most valuable and
important to future generations. I am prompted to this prediction not so much by
thoughts of the commercial and industrial revolution which it will surely bring
about, but of the humanitarian consequences of the many achievements it makes
possible. Considerations of mere utility weigh little in the balance against the higher
benefits of civilization. We are confronted with portentous problems, which cannot
be solved just by providence for our material existence, however abundantly. On the
contrary, progress in this direction is fraught with hazards and perils not less
menacing than those born from want and suffering. If we were to release the energy
of atoms or discover some other way of developing cheap and unlimited power on
any one point of the globe, this accomplishment instead of being a blessing, bring
disaster to mankind in giving rise to dissension and anarchy which would ultimately
result in the enthronement of the hated regime of force.
The greatest good will come from technical improvements tending to unification
and harmony, and my wireless transmitter is preeminently such. By its means, the
human voice and likeness will be reproduced everywhere and factories driven
thousands of miles from waterfalls furnishing the power; aerial machines will be
propelled around the earth without stop, and the sun's energy controlled to create
lakes and rivers for motive purposes end transformation of arid deserts into fertile
land. Its introduction for telegraphic, telephonic and similar uses will automatically
cut out the statics and all other interferences which at present impose narrow limits
to the application of the wireless."
114
These were his visions and goals fur humanity. He had only to implement them with his
inventions, which of course required materials, men and money. The U.S. was undergoing
another depression a n d mo n e y w a s h a rd t o g e t . Th e W e s t i n g h o u s e C o mp a n y w a s h a v i n g
f i n a n c i a l difficulties, and had to be reorganized. Its new management insisted that
the
company could not survive if it continued to pay Tesla the royalty rate of one dollar
per
horsepower, and they put pressure on George Westinghouse to break the contract with Tesla.
O'Neill reports this meeting between the two friends, Westinghouse and Tesla, in detail [2].
The conclusion was that Tesla tore up the contract just to help the man who had once
helped
him. In this gesture, Tesla gave up millions of dollars in future income and thereby bound
himself to a life where he was forever handicapped by limited funds for his work. But Tesla's
gesture was thoroughly in the spirit of his new resolves and his belief in a law
of
compensation. Other pressures came from Thomas A. Edison and his companies. As
the
success of the Tesla alternating current increased, the fortunes of the Edison investments
decreased. Edison, it is believed, was instrumental in having New York State introduce
electrocution as the form of capital punishment at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining some 30
miles
up the Hudson River from New York City [3]. The means used for electrocution was Tesla's
alternati n g current! Of course, this was the worst possible kind of publicity for Tesla's
invention.
In order to counteract this bad publicity, Tesla had to do something that would prove the
human of the AC system. Fortunately, the Columbia World Exposition was being
planned to open in 1893 in Chicago. Westinghouse got the contract to light it with AC, the
first world's fair to be so lighted. Then a large exhibition was planned by Westinghouse which
would feature the new Tesla inventions. Tesla himself decided to use this event to publicize
the safety of the alternating current. He stood on the high tension end of one of his coils that
passed over a million volts through his body so that he was enveloped in a sheet of electrical
flame. Of course, he had done this experiment privately in his laboratory many times for his
FRIENDS, but this was the first time he had done it for publicity. The Edison campaign
backfiredd, and Tesla's genius for the theatrical and for safety prevailed in the public mind.
But more than this effect, the management of the Edison General Electric Company saw the
handwriting on the wall, and quietly licensed the Tesla patents from Westinghouse. But the
battle of the electrical giants had one more round to go.
In 1890, the Morgan fmancial group had started a company to try to develop the electric
power potential of Niagara Falls. If was called the Cataract Construction Company, and its
president was Edward Dean Adams. An international competition was held for the best design
for the electrical power plant. The international commission was chaired by Lord Kelvin. The
commission found that none of the plans offered were feasible. So the Cataract Company
asked for plans and bids from companies in order to get the work under way. It was an
incredible personal triumph for Tesla when his concept and plan were adopted by the
commission. In October, 1893, two companies were awarded the contracts to electrify
Niagara Falls: Westinghouse won the contract to build the AC power plant at the Falls; and
General Electric, using the licensed Tesla patents, was awarded the contract to build the
transmission lines and distribution systems to Buffalo, New York, 22 miles away. Tesla had
set huge ideas and forces in motion years ago, and now the tide of industrial civilization was
lifting them higher and higher to the thundering crest of Niagara Falls' worldwide reputation.
Meanwhile, back at the laboratory Tesla pushed on toward his goal. He had many
problems to solve. Foremost was to build an electrical generator that could duplicate the
trigger effect of lightning bolts in releasing rain from clouds. We can reconstruct how Tesla's
mind was working in these days from scattered comments he made over the following forty
years. He formulated a concept of the electrical system of the earth globe floating and
115
spinning in space on his mental computer screen modeled after the
rotating brush bulb. He had determined that one charged body influenced another charged
body by electrostatic force oscillations between them. He set up the hypothesis that if this
were true of the planets, then an electrostatic force "piston" effect on one planet should be
transmissible to another planet. The missing knowledge in this theory was: "Does the planet
earth have an electrical charge?"
As simple as this question is, no one had ever been able to answer it scientifically. If the
earth had a charge, then Tesla knew that he could "pump" this charge with electrostatic forces
and begin to create the effects he envisioned: namely, weather control, illumination of the
skies at night, electric power transmission through the earth, and so forth.
In order to determine whether the earth had a charge, he must build a machine that would
perturb the earth and its possible mass of electricity to find out what it's natural period of
oscillation would be. In other words, he would oscillate the earth very much like one
oscillated a clock pendulum, and after it started, determine its natural period of swing. He
knew by mathematical calculations that this should be around eight cycles per second. Not
knowing whether he would also have to find a mechanical resonance of the earth — by striking
it like a bell ~ or if he would have to find an electrical resonance by oscillating it like a coil
he set about developing both types of machines. One machine was a mechanical vibrator
which would tap the earth - and then he would listen for the sonic resonant tone of response.
The other machine was a huge Tesla electrical oscillator coil that would tap the earth
electrically, and he would then listen for the resonant electrical tone of response. He
proceeded to work on both of these machines.
With respect to the high voltage Tesla coil, he made improvement upon improvement on it
in his laboratory at 33 South Fifth Avenue until he was able to produce 4,000,000 vols
potential. This was the limit he could go within the confines of a small building within New
York City. To go to higher voltages he would have to go out into open country, which he did
in 1899. In the meantime, he turned from getting higher voltages, to get finer and finer tuning
of his coils. The reason he had to do this was that in order to measure the resonant frequency
of the earth, he would have to tune his coil to within a fraction (1/10) of a cycle. He tested the
sharpness of "tuning principles" with his coils by building pairs of coils -one being a
transmitter and the other a receiver of electrical energy. He would then send out one of his
workmen in the vicinity of his laboratory with a receiver coil, and Tesla would send
electrical energy to it from a transmitter coil inside his laboratory. In these "tuning"
experiments, Tesla was laying the foundation for all future "wireless" or "radio" technology.
He planned to make a test of all of his new tuning refinements in the spring of 1895 by
sending a boat up the Hudson River north of New York City. With his laboratory as a fixed
platform for radio transmission, and the boat as a mobile platform for radio reception: he
would make his final tests for circuit tuning and earth electrical resonance.
Unfortunately, his plans were frustrated and delayed. On the night of March 13, 1895, a
fire broke our in the basement of 33 South Fifth Avenue and swept through the entire
structure, including Tesla's laboratory. All of his hundreds of invention models, plans, notes,
laboratory data, tools, photographs- all, were destroyed. Not only was all of Tesla's
intellectual capital destroyed on that night, but he had no funds with which to start anew. It
was a black, black day for Tesla, blacker than the smoldering ruins of his laboratory.
Even as the disaster of his laboratory loss was still ashes in his heart, the power from
Niagara Falls began to flow in August, 1895 — Tesla's greatest triumph to date. The builders
and backers of this biggest of all electrical power planes on the planet were highly pleased
with the success of the Tesla polyphase system. One of them, Mr. Adams, president of the
Cataract Construction Company, gave Tesla his full sympathy for the laboratory loss, and
116
offered to finance all of his future work. Here Tcsla stood at the crossroads of his entire
future. If he accepted Adams's offer, he would have the full backing of the powerful J.P.
Morgan financial empire. Adams proposed to finance Tesla immediately with $100,000 for a
small percentage of shares in Tesla's laboratory. More financing would follow, and in the
hands of good financiers, Tesla's money problems would be over, and he could concentrate
purely on scientific research. Tesla was in no position to bargain, but he did not want partners,
to be controlled, or to be owned. No one knows why he refused the generous overall financial
plan, but he accepted only $40,000 to get him going again [4]. For the second time in his life,
he waived opportunity to be rich. His monastic ideal was firmly in command.
It was not long before he had a new laboratory at Houston Street near Mulberry Street. He
plunged into his work with renewed vigor to make up for a lost year of research. His work
was prodigious, and to the uninitiated reader he seems to have been going in all directions at
once as he turned out new steam engines, perfected radio transmitters and receivers, founded
the art of electro-therapy, discovered X-rays, and laid the foundations far the entire art of
teleautomatics, or remote-controlled robots. In addition, he discovered different kinds of
mechanical vibrators that were useful both for personal massage, and could cause "controlled"
earthquakes. But now that we know what his goal was, we can see that each of these
pioneering areas of invention were simply new tools toward his end goal.
He developed mechanical vibrators because he wanted to know what the resonance
vibration (mechanical) was of the earth. Since he had calculated that this could be either in the
8 Hz region, or in the region of 0.00015 Hz, he built devices that could tap the earth at these
frequencies. But he was prudent and did a lot of research to make sure that these mechanical
vibrators were safe — for himself, for others, and for the planet. He found that the 0.00015 Hz
waves were too long to affect a human. However, in the 8 Hz range he found extraordinary
effects. He built a vibrating platform driven by a magnetic drive which he could vary over the
vibratory range of 6 Hz to 15 Hz. He would stand on this platform and record the effects on
himself. He found that in the low range, 6 Hz, one would develop a feeling of pleasant
dizziness, some mild nausea, and a profound pelvic relaxation that could lead to sudden
massive diarrhea. Today we would call this a cholinergic effect on the parasympathetic
nervous system. One day his friend Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was
experimenting with the sensations induced by this vibrator. Clemens was feeling so good that
he persisted in staying on the machine after Tesla has warned him that he had had enough.
Clemens giggled and said he was having the best sensation of his life, and remember, he was
the one who had said, "A woman is just a woman, but a cigar is a good smoke." Suddenly, he
turned green, leaped off the vibrator, and headed directly into the nearby water-closet: he had
just been triggered into massive colic and diarrhea. Thus Tesla explored the effects of extra
low frequency (ELF) mechanical waves, electric waves, and magnetic waves on the human
body to check for possible hazardous effects, as well as beneficial effects.
Tesla, in exploring the effects of alternating electric currents running through his body,
founded the art and science of scientific electrotherapy [5]. Thus he was able to learn
which frequencies, voltages, and currents of alternating current were beneficial to man. In
working with very high voltages in vacuum tubes, Tesla observed as early as 1892 that there
were "invisible radiations" emanating from them. He was pursuing this subject vigorously at
the time his laboratory burned on March 13, 1895 and had laid out the whole science of Xrays including shadowgraph pictures on photographic plates. When Prof. Wilhelm
Konrad
Roentgen announced his discovery of X-rays in December of 1895, Tesla was immediately
able to reproduce his results. However, Tesla did not publish his findings until March
11, 1896.[6] It is interesting to note that although Tesla worked for years near the X-rays
produced by his high voltage vacuum tubes, he was sufficiently aware of their danger so that
117
he did not ever suffer any X-ray bums as did so many of his contemporaries. In the course of
the same studies, he discovered cosmic ray particles as early as 1893. [7] These were
rediscovered 30 years later by Robert A. Milliken. Thus, in his wide ranging hazard studies
Tesla clearly learned the biological effects of extra low frequencies, mechanical and
electrical, alternating currents from the top of the hearing range (20,000 Hz) and upwards,
light radiation, energetic radiation (X-rays), and energetic particles—electrons, protons, etc.
Today we can only laud his caution and concern far living things as he carefully explored the
bio-effects of the new energies he was generating.
In addition to the bio-effects, Tesla was also concerned about the effects of these new
energies on the dielectrics in his condensers, the insulation in his coils, and the effects of the
ozone and nitric oxides thus produced on men and materials. All of these effects he pursued in
minute detail, ever seeking to find new materials that would withstand the high voltages he
planned and the high frequencies and energetic particles he produced. One of his concerns
was for the ability of his structures to withstand the vibratory stresses of the extra low
frequency he planned to use. So he methodically vibrated the structures he built with his
mechanical generators. One day in his new Houston Street laboratory, he attached a small
(hand-sized) vibrator to a steel post of his building. Unknown to Tesla, within a few minutes
after the vibrator started, in the surrounding neighborhood windows began to shatter,
structural elements of buildings suddenly split, the ground trembled — all the effects of a
minor earthquake! People rushed to the local Mulberry street Police Station to complain. The
police, knowing of Tesla's presence, rushed to his laboratory. There, as they entered, they saw
Tesla swinging a sledgehammer at a small piece of iron attached to a pillar. As Tesla
dislodged the Iron piece, the trembling and rumbling of the building immediately ceased
Tesla had suddenly realized that his vibrator had hit the resonant frequency of his building and that it would soon collapse [8]. From such studies he learned to build his coils, towers,
and condensers to withstand the dangerous resonances inherent in such extra low frequencies.
We earlier mentioned Tesla's plans to test his finely tuned radio transmitters and receivers
just before his lab burned down. In the spring of 1897 Tesla carried out the final tests that
gave birth to modern radio. He mounted a radio transmitter and receiver in his laboratory at 46
East Houston Street, and a like pair aboard a ship that slowly moved up the Hudson River in
the direction of Indian Point opposite Bear Mountain just south of the famed West Point
Military Academy.
The ship and the laboratory continually broadcast messages back and forth over various
distances. The tests were a complete success. He announced the results on July 9, 1897 in the
ELECTRICAL REVIEW ~ on his 41st birthday. So complete was Tesla's command of the art
and science of Radio transmission, that after years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
in October of 1943 that Tesla had established clear priority over all other claimants in the
v, irld for the invention of radio.
But the perfection of radio was only a small part of the tools that Tesla needed for his
grand experiment. His highly tuned radios would be used to make a radio map of the earth,
and to precisely clock distances and velocity over the globe, hi addition, he knew that he
would have large complex equipment to operate and control during his experiments. Since he
worked alone ~ usually with only one assistant ~ he would need some means of doing fine
tuning, running controls, and reading data points at a distance from where he stood in
the experiments. To accomplish this he created the art of teleautomatics. This is the science of
remote control of devices and apparatus by means of radio commands. Today this art lies
behind the control of gun firing systems, torpedoes, aircraft, rockets, submarines, drone
airplanes, trains, subways, etc., etc. Yet Tesla mastered this entire art in a few years. In
September 1898 Tesla hired Madison Square Garden in New York City through the
118
generosity of his friend John Hays Hammond. Here he displayed a steel boat several feet long
floating in a large tank. Anyone present in the hall could call out a command to have the
boat
forward or backward, turn right or left, go in a circle, etc. The boat promptly maneuvered
directed. The impression created on the public was truly wondrous. It seemed to them that
the boat had a mind of its own—an intelligent robot. What in fact happened was that as Tesla
stood at a simple control board, he heard the command given, and through his controls relayed
the proper command via radio signals to the boat. The excitement created by this invention
can best he shared by reading the editorial in the staid Electrical Review of New York from
November
9 th
1898,
A NEW MARVEL:
As we go to press an invention of Tesla's is announced which must produce a
profound impression all over the world. Tesla has already identified himself with a
number of most remarkable scientific advances, and great things may still be
confidently expected as the fruit of his earnest and persistent labors, but it is difficult
for us to see how he could ever produce a more beautiful result than he now makes
known through a United states patent issued this week.
To direct and control to the minutest detail, by a subtle agent, the operations of a
mechanism however complicated and ponderous, to change its speed and direction at
will, to make it perform an unlimited number of movements, without any tangible
connection and from great distance, is indeed a closing days of this century of
wonders. When Bell transmitted the human voice over a wire so that the faintest of
its modulations could be recognized, it was marvelous triumph; when Edison
showed his fascinating invention of the phonograph, this, too, was justly looked
upon as a wonder; when Tesla first showed the phenomena of the rotating magnetic
field, or when he presented the magical effect of a tube of glass brilliantly lighted in
his hand, the world stood astonished; when Roentgen announced the epoch-making
discovery of the rays bearing his name, the scientific world was thrilled as never
before; but we believe that the beauty and importance of the invention Tesla has just
announced, in its ultimate developments, will be such as to place it among the most
potent factors in the advance and civilization of mankind. The fact that the invention
has been thoroughly and practically developed makes its immediate application
sure.
In this issue we begin the publication of the clear and exhaustive wording of
Tesla's own description of this invention, which will be concluded next week."
Now, as the end of 1898 approached Tesla had invented dozens of new tools, and carried
out thousands of measurements in hundreds of experiments in preparation of his grand
experiment. Money was always a problem. But his enthusiasm had been conveyed to many of
his rich friends, and their respect for his genius made it easy for them to donate the money he
needed.
Tesla could only carry out his next experiments in an area where large amounts of
alternating current were available. The number one candidate of course, was Niagara Falls,
N.Y., but here the cold weather, and long winter snowfall limited the working time to only a
few summer months. However, there was a large electric installation in Colorado used to
power Telluride Mining Company near Colorado Springs. An old friend, Leonard E. Curtis,
was in charge, and when he heard of Tesla's requirements, he invited him to work there. The
climate was ideal for year-round research, and the electric power available was adequate, so
Tesla decided to go to Colorado Springs. Besides, he would get away from the press who were
119
always hot on his heels looking for a story. He arrived in Colorado Springs in early May 1899.
Before him were the tasks of getting land on which to build a laboratory, build a magnifying
transmitter from scratch, and test and calibrate all his measuring instruments. This was a
Herculean order which even a modern engineering firm could not undertake with a cost plus
contract and expect to deliver in less than a few years. Tesla arrived with a few of his
laboratory workers, and his engineering associate, Fritz Lowenstein. From Tesla's Colorado
Springs notebook, drawings and 436 pages of notes, calculations, photographs, we read that
he is conducting definitive experiments by the 11th of June 1899—and by July 3, 1899 has
made his first great breakthrough. The genius of Tesla and his workers in setting up one of the
great experiments of all time in such a short time is one of the eighth wonders of the worldeven to this day. And now let us recount what Tesla discovered.
Even though we have Tesla's notebook before us, we know that he never wrote down novel
discoveries until he could file for a patent. He had a life-long habit of keeping all the vital
elements of an invention filed secretly in his vast mental computer archive. Therefore, in t h i s
reconstruction of his Colorado experiments we include elements that are not recorded, but
have become subsequent solid scientific knowledge.
120
splash due to the low walls of thc glass, and we would havc losses of water (i.e.,
electricity). Now to conserve the water with use of high pressures and force, we would need
glasses with higher and higher walls. Those could eventually become long tubes, perhaps
hundreds of feet long. We now realize that with such long tubes we could not slosh the water
by hand, back and forth, with the rubes at right angles. We would need some high speed
apparatus do the transfer operation. But having done this we would find that the capillary
attraction between the water and the glass nails would slow down the transfer from one tube to
the other, end this is comparable to a resistance increase in the electric force current, and a
self-inductance increase (impedance increase) in the magnetic force. This would prevent
resonance attainment—or the maximum swing of force outwards to alternatively maximize
first the electrical potential, then the magnetic field potential. The higher the water swings in
each tube the greater the "potential" output of the water analog we use to portray the Tesla
Coil. placing the electrical oscillations at the superconducting temperature, Tesla removed
the resistance to electron flow. This is equivalent to removing all the capillary attraction drag
exerted the water flow by the tube well,
Tesla further discovered that the greatest resonance is achieved in such a superconductive
state if the coils -the primary and the secondary are round in flat pancake spiral geometry.
This is illustrated in Fig. 8 from Tesla's patent drawing. A is the primary coil. B is the flat
wound secondary coil with the free end up and unlabelled (going to capacitor ball), and the
lower end C, grounded in the earth. D is the rank which holds the artificial refrigerant such as
liquid air, or liquid helium.
Now the primary A was connected through a condenser to the alternating current
generator from the Telluride Mining Company. Each cycle of current surge in the primary
induced a current in the secondary. The secondary is so wound, with it condensers tuned for
maximum resonance, that it resonates at 20,700 Hz, and the voltage is likewise stepped up to
attain potentials of millions of volts. Now Tesla had achieved far the first time on the planet
earth by means of superconductivity two freely oscillating circuits each with maximum
resonance, the primary and the secondary. We need no longer concern ourselves with the
primary - it is a given constant in the system. We now focus only on the secondary coil.
Tesla measured the length of the wire that goes into the winding of the secondary so that it
in exactly one quarter of a wave length long. Thus for 20,700 Hz the secondary wire is 3,838
meters in length (Tesla gives these figures in the Colorado notebook as 2.25 miles.) Now this
is another secret discovered by Tesla in his radio tuning experiments. If the coil wire length is
exactly one quarter of the wave length of its oscillating frequency, all the energy
(electrons) will slosh to one end of the wire (remember our water tube model) leaving the
other end of the wire with zero energy (no electrons). With this knowledge Tesla could direct
all of the energy into the earth with each cycle, and have virtually no radiation loss in the air;
or he could direct all of the electrical energy of the secondary coil to the free end in the air
with each cycle, in which ease he would get big sparks and radiation into the air. In the first
case he could transmit power through the earth. In the second case he could transmit radio
energy and information through the air.
He further arranged to have a large ball at the upper (Zero) end of the quarter wave length
long secondary coil which served as a condenser in the atmosphere. We have now described
in essence the machine which Tesla called a magnifying transmitter, the TMT. It was huge.
The primary coil formed a huge tub eighty-five feet across. The secondary coil in pancake
form (we do not have its dimensions) was placed inside of the primary as in Fig. 8. The mast
holding up the huge, shiny copper ball was several hundred feet high. Tesla was now
Prometheus, prepared to steal electrical fire from the Colorado sky. How did he go about this
unprecedented adventure?
121
First, he turned on the generator switch that energized the primary coil so that it was freely
oscillating at 900 cycles. This induced a current in the secondary which was tuned to 10,700
Hz. Now the secondary oscillations per cycle must be clearly understood. Tesla had placed
high in the air at the upper end of the secondary wire, a large ball. When the secondary (0°90°) surged all of its electrons into the earth, they were directed toward the large iron core in
the center of the earth - a huge magnet. When the electric potential hit this magnet it caused
transient iron-cooling with a large release of energy. This iron-liberated electron energy was
sloshed back to the ball in the atmosphere on the return swing (900-2700). This charged up
the ball to a maximum and then the electron energy was released back into the coil (270°-0°90°) and earth to complete the full cycle. Now the oscillation had gained more energy than
the primary pumped into it because of two effects:
Let it be noted that two of Tesla's early patents (No. 396,121 Thermomagnetic
Motor, Jan. 15, 1889; and No. 428,057 Pyromagnetic Electric Generator, May 13, 1890)
converted heat directly into electricity. Today in modern industrial metal casting techniques,
hot castings are quickly and safely cooled without cracking by applying large electric
potentials. In his magnifying transmitter, Tesla used that principle to draw electrical energy
from the hot iron core of the earth and feeding it into the oscillator to get higher and higher
potentials. In addition, by placing the condenser ball in the atmosphere he drew on the free
charge in the air during the part of the cycle (0°- 90°) when the maximum potential on the
lower end of the secondary wire was in the earth, and its upper end was at zero potential.
Now he further increased the potential by now only having maximum resonant
within the secondary coil-condenser circuit itself, but by getting this entire oscillator to get
in perfect harmony (or resonance) with the absolute pitch of the earth itself.
This is how this was accomplished. Tesla had to establish whether the earth had electrical
charge, or not. With his sophisticated instruments he probed the earth, and found that it was
alive with charge, and that this charge had a natural heartbeat (of the earth) at 8 Hz [11]
Furthermore he found that the earth had an electrical charge in the atmosphere up to the
ionosphere which increased about 100 volts per meter, thus placing the earth/ionosphere
potential difference at hundreds of millions of volts. His findings clearly showed that the earth
by itself was resonant at 6 Hz (6.67Hz precisely). He now saw the earth as the inner conductor
plate of a spherical capacitor, with the ionosphere as the outer conductor plate [of a spherical
capacitor (same as a condenser)], and that the atmosphere was sandwiched between, as the
dielectric (or charge bearing gas). This condenser structure formed a resonating cavity with
a peak at 8 Hz (7.83Hz). Thus Tesla desired to get the electrical beat of the magnifying
transmitter secondary coil in resonance with these two resonant cavities of the earth. He did
this by pulsing (or chopping) the 20,700 Hz wave into segments with his magnetic interrupter
so that the pulses hit the earth 6 times per second, m this way, he was hitting the earth with
weak pulses of energy so that the earth began to ring like a bell. He discovered two new
things in this test. First, the electrical 6 Hz pulses tapped the earth with a sound which traveled
to the opposite pole (the antipode) of the earth and bounced back in 108 minutes (This it
about twice as fast than sound would travel in water if traveling the diameter of the earth and
back. - Ed. note). By keeping up this tapping he discovered the sonic stationary wave of the
earth. Secondly, he found that the electromagnetic wave also reached electrical resonance in
the earth, and that it traveled faster than the speed of light through the earth - or 471,240
kilometers per second. The standard speed of light in a vacuum is 299,000 kilometers per
second [12]. Tesla had found that at electrical resonance with the earth, electromagnetic
waves had become Supraluminal and Superconducting! In the supraluminal sense, they moved
122
faster than the speed of light! Modern science has never tested this basic discovery.1
Later on, Tesla made the statement that if he tapped the earth in this fashion sonically for
just two weeks, it would spin the earth in two like a sliced apple! [13] Remembering his
experience in New York, he was careful not to trigger any earthquakes.
The electrical resonances at 8 Hz made it possible to electrostatically oscillate the
earth/ionosphere capacitor and create many startling effects. By a method he never disclosed,
Tesla was able to condense (or attract) mist and water from clear air. This was the first step
toward his plan of weather control. By putting two identical alternating current frequencies
into the air and carefully phase shifting them as in his rotating magnetic field (Fig. 3), he
found that he could precisely steer a high potential, high energy beam at any velocity he
desired around the planet. [14] By this means he planned to influence jet streams and trade
winds in order to move clouds around the planet and deliver water where needed. With his
ability to produce potentials as high as 20,000,000 volts (measured), he could create lightning
bolts over a hundred feet long. He believed that with improved technology of the magnifying
transmitter it was possible to produce 100,000,000 volts potentials.[15]
By the end of 1899 Tesla had achieved all of his scientific goals. He now knew that he
could transmit human information (voice and pictures) by wireless anywhere on the globe—
simply and efficiently. He knew that he could transport electrical power anywhere on the
earth by using earth as a conductor. He lit a bank of 200 light bulbs (10 kilowatts) by this
wireless means at a distance of 26 miles just to spot check his theory.[16]
He knew that he could control weather by either electrically collecting clouds for gathering
or dispersing their moisture), or by moving clouds along predetermined paths and releasing
their contents with an electrical trigger to produce rain.
He knew that with his sonic lapping of the earth—he called this the science of
Telegeodynamics —he could release and adjust the pent-up tectonic forces of the earth and
thereby prevent serious earthquakes.
He also knew that these extra low frequencies (ELF) both mechanical and electromagnetic,
had powerful effects on living things and must be used with caution until they were fully
understood.[17]
But most spectacular of all, he felt that he had achieved a test of his theory that all planets
and the sun were electrically charged, and that by perturbing this charge with his TMT
electrostatic forces, the planets could communicate with each other. To this end he wrote a
most fascinating article in Colliers for 1901 entitled, "Talking With The Planets"[18], He
further believed that by the same means man could tap on the breast of Mother Sun and
release her energy toward the earth as needed— magnetic as well as light. In his 43rd year,
Tesla, in spite of every possible
obstacle, succeeded in penetrating deeper into Nature's mysteries than any man before, and
had even grasped in his hand, the Promethean electrical fire from the sun—even if but for a
moment.
He dismantled his Colorado equivalent and laboratory in January, 1900 and returned to
New York City. The working knowledge of his secrets was not to be rediscovered until the
Soviets silently announced their success on July 4, 1976.
When Tesla returned to New York in early 1900, he made up his mind to try to start a
worldwide broadcasting service. But true to his usual solo pattern, he did not want to go
1
The blue glow of nuclear reactor cooling ponds is caused by Cherenkov radiation which is a
well-known physics phenomena where the particles exceed the speed of light in that medium.
The formula for the speed of EM phase velocity is v = 1/sqrt(LC) which can be faster than light
speed in a vacuum. See Dr. H. Milnes, "Faster than Light?" Radio Elec., Jan. 1983. -Ed. note
123
public in any way by trying to finance his operation with many stockholders, or even partners.
Instead he went to the most powerful financier in the world, J.P. Morgan, who had been
impressed with the brilliant success of the Tesla polyphase system in powering the budding
industrial world of the United States. Morgan agreed to finance him on a private basis so that
Tesla could be his own boss. Tesla decided to build the improved commercial version of
the Colorado Springs Magnifying Transmitter 65 miles east of New York City an long
Island. This was the first step toward developing a "World Telegraphy System" whose aim
was to bring all people on the planet earth into one shared information brain.
As the structure went up in the midst of a 175 acre trace of land, rumor was rife in the
little fanning community. No one had ever seen such a strange mushroom-shaped coppercapped 185 foot high tower on this planet. It was designed by one of the most famous
architects of the day, Stanford White. The construction was closely guarded as some 50
workers toiled. Great curiosity centered on a mysterious stairway that went deep into the
ground in he center of a huge concrete platform that served as the base for the tower. The
New York Times for March 17, 1901 makes these curious observations:
"Mr. Scherff, the private secretary of the inventor, told an inquirer that the stairway
going into the ground led to a small drainage passage which was to keep the ground
below the tower dry. But villagers who watched the construction day by day tell a
different story.
They declare char it leads to a well-like excavation as deep as the tower is high,
with walls of masonwork and a circular stairway leading to the bottom. From there,
they say, tunnels have been built in all directions until the entire ground below the
little plain on which the tower is raised has been honeycombed with subterranean
passages. They tell with awe how Mr. Tesla, on his weekly visits to Wardenclyffe,
spends as much time in the underground passages as he does in the power plant on
the surface."
So secretly did work proceed on this Magnifying Transmitter complex that in reading
newspapers and journals about it twenty years later we find the mystery still persisted. The
tower and structures were completed in 1902, just as Tesla ran out of money. Tesla was
unable to finance the construction and installation of the electrical equipment. There werre
many simple ways that Tesla could have financed the completion of his grand project. Why he
avoided success in the completion of the world Telegraphy System has never been explained
satisfactorily, by Tesla or anyone else although many speculations were offered. Tesla, in all
subsequent interviews, never wavered in his faith that the design was a practical possibility. In
spite of this faith and a burning desire to finish his lifelong quest of taming the electrical
forces of the earth, he never made a practical move to bring the effort to conclusion. And
even more strangely, no one else on the planet ever tried to duplicate his design—at least, not
until the mysterious Russian signals appeared all over the planet in early July, 1976.
SECTION FOUR
Tesla's Wisdom: The Legacy of his Planetary Thinking
1900-1943
Tesla spent the first half of his life penetrating the secret of planetary ecology. Having
opened the Pandora's box of planet earth, he was overwhelmed by the responsibility this
124
kwowledge placed on him. Although he quickly shut the lid on the box, the awesome
knowledge he now possessed haunted him for the remainder of his life. We find in his
speeches, conversations with friends, and in his writings, a total preoccupation with the
problems of war and peace. Since planet earth is suddenly faced with the knowledge of the
positive and negative potential effects coming from the use of the Tesla Magnifying
Transmitter, it would be well to get a grasp of the future possibilities we face by
reviewing Tesla's pioneering thoughts.
By June of 1900, Tesla had framed the problem facing humanity in a masterful
statement published in THE CENTURY his good friend Robert Underwood Johnson a
magazine ably edited by Tesla contemplated life in its broadest sense. As he surveyed the
earth, sun, the moon, the planets, and the far reaches of space, he could only state that man
has no way of knowing from where he comes, why he is on earth, or where he is going.
Tesla also saw so vividly that all observable processes in Nature - living or non-living follow a rhythmic cycle (Figure 2) of birth (0°), growth to physical maturity (90°), decline
from peak physical powers (180°, a resurging of mental and spiritual powers (270°), and a
weakening of such powers with death (360°)
The cycles are similar for plants and animals, the seasons, for the earth, the sun, and the
stars. Someday, the sun's fuel would be expended, and earth would become a block of ice and,
eventually, barren like the moon. But in this cycle there is always rebirth — and most
importantly with the rise and cyclical fall ~ ever the onward movement to an unknown
destiny. Being a scientist, Tesla knew that he could not deal with unknown past origins or
with the unknown future, but he could deal with the present; and for him the present with
characterized by the "onward movement."
In this philosophical perspective, Tesla recognized that whatever life was, in essence it was
the embodiment of some mysterious unknown principle in the flesh. Earthly life is then a
process in which this unknown principle faces the challenge of mastering the flesh ~ the earth
component of life. And, of course, Tesla's own life was a living proof of this thesis as he tried
to master the powers of the flesh, and bent his powers of soul and mind to communicate with
the laws of Nature — for him, the ultimate dialogue. Then, looking at earthly life from its
place of flesh, of mass, he abstracted a few rules for the management of human life. As the
mass of each individual and the collective mass of the entire biosphere hurtles on through
space, it acquired extra force from the velocity imparted to the mass, or, in sparse language:
Human Energy = 1/2 Mass Times Velocity Squared
or
E = 1/2 M V2
But he considered the velocity squared, V2, to be made up of two parts, a velocity V, which
we can compute; for example, the velocity of the spin of the earth, about 1,000 miles per
hour, and the velocity of movement through space, the sum of our orbital velocity around the
sun plus our velocity around the galaxy plus the velocity of the galaxy around something
else, [2] and so on to some unknown end. The latter unknown velocity, V, he called a
"hypothetical velocity" since it could not be quantified in his day. The equation he used, E =
1/2 MV2 is the ordinary equation from mechanics for the kinetic energy of a moving mass.
Einstein went beyond this simple formulation and said that any mass has potential energy,
ultimately, in the amount where V2 is replaced by the velocity of light, C, squared, or C2
thus:
E=MC 2
125
where the 1/2 term is dropped.
Now analyzing the dynamics of this equation for energy, Tesla points out that when a mass
is accelerated at a given velocity there are two main forces acting on it. One is the force
which holds it back, the resistance to motion: the retardant force. The other is the force which
moves it ahead: the advanced force. The balance of these two forces will determine how fast
the mass will move, and this in turn determines its energy content. The energy content can
be converted by various means to do work. Ultimately, Tesla said, humans are here on
earth to work — to convert their inherent mass-energy into work energy which will further
personal evolution, and the collective evolution of earth life.
But he also pointed out that in addition to modulating the retardant forces and the
advanced forces, one could increase the mass of humanity by increasing its numbers on the
biosphere in order to increase its energy content. The human mass can show increased energy
content, he said, by conserving itself hygienically by clean food, environment, and proper
exercises; by "the promotion of marriage, by the conscientious attention to the child, and
generally stated, by the observance of all the many precepts and laws of religion and hygiene
[3]. Tesla was most insistent on a high moral guidance of living processes. He expanded on
this theme in many of his writings. But he noted that the key obstacle to increasing the
human mass was the limitation of the food supply. Here Tesla made another practical and
brilliant contribution. He pointed out the well-known fact that the soil needed soluble
nitrogen to have a high yield of food. It was Tesla who discovered that high frequency, high
voltage electrical discharges were the cheapest method of getting the nitrogen from the air to
combine with oxygen and hydrogen to produce nitrogen oxides (NOX) and ammonia (NH3) the starting point of all soil fertilizers. Today hundreds of millions of tons of such fertilizers
are used on earth every year to increase agricultural production. However, after 75 years of
such nitrogen fertilizer use, man has begun to learn that it too presents a hazard to existence.
The nitrogen oxides evaporate from the soil and rises to the upper layers of the stratosphere
where they have a strange chemical action. This layer of the stratosphere contains a thin layer
of ozone, sufficient to act as a shield against deadly ultraviolet rays reaching the surface of the
earth. If these deadly rays reached earth, all life would be extinguished eventually beginning
with a dramatic increase in cancer in all living things. It is now known that the nitrogen oxides
have a peculiar catalytic effect in destroying ozone — each N02 molecule can destroy about
10,000 ozone molecules! There is strong evidence that the ozone layer is now slowly being
depleted and thinned. This is due to the catalytic breakdown of ozone by many agents other
than the nitrogen oxides. But the TMT, wisely used, can selectively repair damage to the
ozone layer, and regulate the amount of ozone in the shield. Tesla was aware of this potential
use of the TMT. The Soviets have created this beneficial by-product of their global warfarfe
system, but have failed to tell the world about it. This will be explained later.
Tesla went on to analyze the retardant forces acting on the onward movement of man. He
compared these to frictional effects which can be cured by the proper lubrication. The
greatest of these retardant forces, says Tesla, is ignorance. And the greatest manifestation of
ignorance, he points out, in "civilization" is organized warfare. The best lubricant for
ignorance is education which becomes an "eraser" of ignorance. But the problems of war,
Tesla realizes, are ultra-complex. First, he recognizes that an orderly society needs to have
the governing influences of law, and a means to enforce laws, i.e., police. He analyzes
brilliantly how war feeds on ignorance, its appeal to bravery and sacrifice, and the lure of
medals and other rewards and honors that come from battle. In his incisive way he proposes a
solution unthought of in 1900: eliminate men as combatants of war! In the process of
education, he says, we should escalate war to the level of a sophisticated game in which man
126
has no role except to produce teleautomatons, i.e., robots. Since he was the one who created
this science he could also brilliantly advise as to how to use it. But these robots would have
all the intelligence and skill of thinking man. They would exist in the form of "thinking"
aircraft and rocket spacecraft — maneuvering with respect to each other's intentions without
interference by man. But they would only outwit, or destroy each other—not man or
the
planet earth, When this was achieved technically, man would be cheated out of getting a
personal thril out of war, and this barbarous practice would be replaced by true, creative
peaceful processes. Today as some 4,000 satellites clutter space, and we read press reports
of the U.S. and the Soviet Union having developed satellites that can carry on warlike acts
between
themselves,
Tesla's
vision
approaches
reality.
What Tesla believed in strongly, up to 1930, was that war could be abolished by
pushing the tools of war to such sophistication that they could operate independently of
man. To this end he developed from the TMT a machine that could put up an invisible
curtain of defense around any country, which was not penetrable by aircraft or missiles,
However, he later modified his thinking when he realized that all automation of war weaponry
war in the direction of "overkill." That Tesla himself did not actively develop the many
teleautomatons he designed torpedoes, submarines, aircraft, etc., is proven by a curious set of
historical
events.
One of the private benefactors of Tesla beginning in the 1890s was John Hays Hammond,
the great mining engineer who became the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James in
England. Hammond lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts on the seacoast facing the reef of
Norman's Woe. His great friend and neighbor was Colonel William House, who in turn was
the personal political adviser of President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. President from 19141918, and 1918-1922. John Hays Hammond had a son, John Hays Hammond, Jr., or, as my
friend Jack Hammond. When Jack was a student at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale
University he met Tesla through his father, Jack told me that this meeting changed his life
- he wanted to follow in Tesla's footsteps for a career. During many conversations between
Col. House, John Hammond, Tesla, and Jack before World War I started, they discussed the
inevitable coming of this war, and how unprepared America was. When Wilson was elected
President in 1914, Col. House was in a key position to inform the President of Tesla's ideas
with respect to peace and war. President Wilson wanted peace, and kept America out of the
war as long as possible. But he was also responsible for making sure that America was
prepared for war. Col. House persuaded President Wilson to start a secret program of putting
Tesla's teleautomatics into practical use by the U.S. Navy. Tesla declined to participate in this
program to build war machines. But he allowed young Jack, who was only 25 years old to go
ahead with his ideas [4]. Jack entered into contractual arrangements with the U.S. Navy for
several millions of dollars, and perfected and applied the Tesla teleautomatic patents to
battleships, torpedoes, gun-fire control, submarines and aircraft. Jack received several
undred U.S. Patents as result of his work. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, it
was armed with the best of Tesla's ideas for automation of warfare.
When Tesla saw World War II coming as early as 1935, he secretly offered his "Wall of
Force" defense system to Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. His aim was not to get
rich, because he was now thoroughly adjusted to his monastic life, but only to prevent war,
and secondly to save the best values in Western civilization against the satanic doctrine of
Adolf Hitler. But the military advisers of these great powers from 1935 to 1939 were blind to
Tesla's advanced technology. As we now sadly know, it was not until 1976 that the Soviets
were able to recapture the advanced thinking and technology of Tesla. And now, as in 1914,
and 1938, the world teeters on the brink of another world conflagration, but this time armed
with nuclear weapons, military computers, and mind-enslaving global magnetic warfare
127
methods.
But in 1900 Tesla was still optimistically trying to chart the long course man had to work
through to find peace. In addition to working out methods to increase human massenergy as outlined, and his vast contributions to lubricating the retardant forces with
teleautomatic science and technology, he contemplated methods of increasing the advancing
forces in man's energy equation.
His analysis is superb. He points out that all of the energy on earth available to man coal,
oil, wood, waterfalls, tides, wind, solar radiation, etc., all come from the sun. The best way to
increase the energy contribution of the advancing forces on man is to capture more of the
motive power of the sun, thereby amplifying man's natural energy endowment. This
amplification would increase his work output, acting on himself, the environment, and in
evolution. The onward movement of man would be accelerated. He points out in no
uncertain terms how barbarous it is of man to burn up millions of year's inheritance of wood,
coal and oil in a few generations. Man must find renewable, non-depletable sources of
energy. He then produced a long list of inventions to bring about this result. He invented an
advanced type of steam engine to more efficiently utilize coal; he invented and perfected the
best high pressure steam turbines ever known; he devised apparatus to capture the vast
geothermal energy of the earth. He invented solar energy devices that converted sunlight
by day into electricity, and the sun's radio waves by night into electricity. He invented
devices to convert heat directly into electricity — thermoelectric machines. He devised
methods to convert magnetism, or gravity directly into motive power. And all the electrical
output of these inventions was to be transported wherever needed on the planet by a grid of
Tesla's Magnifying Transmitter Towers.
But he reserved his highest skill and greatest dedication to finding ways to extract
energy from what he called the ambient medium - literally the thin air and/or vacuum
around us. Today we would call this goal the extraction of energy from zero-point vacuum
fluctuations. This process also contemplates penetrating the wall of light, the velocity-of-light
barrier, to extract energy from the domain of tachyons, particles exceeding the speed of light,
at supraluminal velocities. Theoretically, this energy transfer across the wall of light occurs
through mini-black holes, and mini-white holes, a theory not yet proven, but under active
discussion by scientists today.
Tesla outlined the five elements that must be mastered to extract energy from the ambient
medium. But his approach did not contemplate extracting energy from mini-holes (something
of the order of 10-39 centimeters diameter), but from the vacuum regions between the
planets. He planned by modulating the electrostatic forces around the earth, and thereby
perturbing the sun, to draw energy from the sun to earth. His five elements were outlined by
him.
First, he needed a mechanical modulator that would tap the earth to bring out full
mechanical resonance. This would produce a sonic wave bouncing from pole to anti-pole
every 108 minutes. He solved this problem by means of a unique steam engine which he
exhibited as early as 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair.
Second, he needed to develop an air compressor that would liquify the air in sufficient
amounts to run his huge TMT secondary coil at superconducting temperatures. He worked for
a long time at this problem, but it was solved by Dr. Carl Linde working independently, and
Tesla was the first to give him recognition for priority.
Third, he had to perfect the TMT in order to utilize the upper stratosphere and the
certain layers of the ionosphere as a conductor of electricity. In Figure 5 we see the bulb
model of the earth/ionosphere condenser. The earth is represented by the central bulb, S; the
ionosphere is represented by the outer glass globe, L. The intervening space between S and L
128
represents the atmosphere. In Figure 6, the earth, S, is energized by the TMT and light (radio
waves) resonating between the earth, S, and the ionosphere, L, in different patterns as
shown also in Figures 7 and 8. Figure 8 shows that a beam of light can be formed in this
model. Figure 10 shows more clearly how such a beam is formed which we have been calling
a "standing wave". In Figure 10, we have two velocities of electromagnetic waves interacting:
velocity AC-1 emanates from Riga (1) as ionosphere electromagnetic waves moving at the
velocity of light, c, and goes to Point (4). Velocity AC-2 goes from Riga (1) directly into the
earth through the hot iron core where it picks up energy and a velocity greater than c, the
tachyonic level, to reach the antipode at (2). At (2), much of the energy dissipates into space,
and some of it is reflected by scattering around the iron core in the cone shape to (3) and thus
the standing wave, SW, is formed by velocity-phase interference patterns. These phase
relations work very much like the rotating magnetic field phasing of Figure 2 to produce a
magnetic standing wave. This magnetic standing wave can be moved, steered or made
stationary (at any rate desired) by adding another wave to the system, emanating from Gomel.
When the wave from Riga, and the one from Gomel are properly phase-locked, the wave, SW,
can slowly sweep around its great circle route, or can be made to stand still over cities like
Timmins, Ottawa, New York, Peking, etc. The Soviets have used the region between
Timmins, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario, very heavily as a human experimental territory
because they had a large spy network in this area ready to report the local effects back to
Moscow by secure diplomatic pouch. This spy ring was broken up by the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police (RCMP) in February, 1978, and 26 KGB agents operating out of the Russian
Embassy in Ottawa were expelled from the country. [7] As we have already amply
129
documented from Tesla's models, his Colorado springs experiments, and the Soviet
experiments, tins thud element of ionospheric conduction has been mastered. The Soviets
perfected Tesla's art by having a large satellite in polar orbit with a nuclear power plant of
100KW aboard to help control the standing wave pattern. On January 24, 1978, this nuclear
powered Soviet satellite crashed in the Great Slave Lake region of Canada. [8] It is not
known yet whether the U.S. government shot it down with one of its Killer Satellites. Only
time will reveal the depths of the secret struggle going on between the Soviet Union and the
United States for mastery of the skies over planet earth. Thus the third element involves an
electric oscillator (the TMT) that will resonate the electrostatic forces operating between the
earth conductor and the ionospheric conductor.
The fourth element requires all of Tesla's art of teleautomatics, including computers and
satellites to precisely tune the earth to resonance to produce the desired effects.
The fifth element requires the earth tuning of the fourth element to be extended to
bringing the sun into resonance with the earth. [9] This immediately sets up interplanetary
communications of much energy between the two bodies. The trick is to control the flow of
energy from earth to sun in perfect balance for life functions. This is not easy, and too little is
known about what can happen.
The ideal full wavelength for an 8 Hz wave is approximately 23,500 miles long
(comparable with the circumference of the earth - Ed. note). A one-quarter wavelength for 8
Hz is 5875 miles, and this is 1.48 earth radii long. A one-quarter wave length signal for 8 Hz
generated on the earth would resonate as shown in Figure 11. The Table and Figure 11 also
show that the inner belt of protons can be used to resonate frequencies from 6.66 Hz to 10.80
Hz. This is the filter mechanism most likely used by the Soviets, in addition to the satellite
orbiting at this same altitude.
TABLE
Inner Belt Proton Resonance as a Function of Wavelength and Distance as Earth Radii.
Since the solar wind produces particles that have an average kinetic energy eight times
that of the magnetic energy density, we have a constant source to energize the inner belt
protons in order to maintain resonance, at a center frequency of 8 Hz. It is now beginning to
be realized that such a mechanism does indeed affect the earth's magnetic field, which in turn
affects the weather. In the early 1960's, Dr. Robert Uffen pulled together a lot of data
collected since the 1700's to show that the magnetic flux variations from the sun, known as
the 11.1 year sun spot cycle, had a controlling effect on the fluctuations of the earth's
magnetic field. But his most important finding was that long term world climatic changes
could be correlated with changes in the earth's magnetic field. This basic discovery was
130
quickly followed by a report from Columbia University, which showed that when the intensity
of the earth's magnetic field decreases the average world temperature also decreases, as well
as the reverse effect.
Dr. J.W. King of the Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom extended these findings
in 1974. He found that over the northern hemisphere of our planet, the magnetic field strength
contour lines matched the atmospheric pressure contour lines. The centers of low atmospheric
pressure coincide with the centers of highest magnetic intensity. Furthermore, Dr. King
showed that atmospheric pressure patterns take the form of a dumb-bell shape with a low in
each end, and this is matched by a similar contour for the magnetic field. Dr. King's paper
published in NATURE, January 18, 1974, founded the new science of magnetometeorology
linking geomagnetism with meteorology.
We have tried to show, in simplified and abbreviated form, how an 8 Hz magnetic wave
is a common universal factor connecting protons in the brain with protons in the sun, and how
the earth and the solar wind are organized as a filter mechanism for the 8 Hz magnetic
frequency which is so fundamental to a balanced healthy state for living things. We have
also indicated the mechanism whereby very small, plus or minus, deviations from an 8 Hz
center frequency can induce pathological states in people, and most likely in all living
things on this planet. [22] It is also very clear that in carrying out their experiments
with the Tesla Magnifying Transmitter, the Soviets are exploiting only the pathologicalinducing effects, as we shall show in the succeeding chapters.
But there is one effect that nobody dares mention, except one man. This is the possibility
of impressing human thoughts, neutral, good, or bad, upon the ELF waves as the carrier
system. There is no easy explanation of this phenomenon, but I will give a personal
experience that may convey the essential idea. In 1961, I was with the late Aldous Huxley,
and his wife Laura. From them I learned that Laura had a gift for making non-contact motions
with her hands over sick people, and in some cases had helped the patient. One case in
particular intrigued me, where Laura had cured a patient of paroxysmal ventricular
tachycardia (a sudden and dangerous form of heart racing) I arranged to have Laura and her
"now cured" heart patient monitored electronically while non-contact hand passes were
carried out by Laura. To my great surprise, I found out that when Laura's hands passed about
four inches over the skin of the patient, that both she and the patient came into resonance by
producing enormous ELF waves in their separate EEG's at a peak power centered on the 8 Hz
frequency. This test was repeated over and over again until I was satisfied that this was a
genuine EM induction effect. Others have repeated my work since then and confirmed it.
Since healing has been observed with a process of 8 Hz EM wave induction, it was
logical to assume that precise information transfer had occurred in order to correct the
organic defect in the patient. This also meant that potentially one could transfer other kinds of
information if one knew how to impress thoughts upon an 8 Hz carrier wave. The question
131
now arises as to whether the Soviets have taken this step, and added this mental modulation
possibility to their ELF, TMT experimentss. [23] My friend, Thomas Bearden, (Lt. Col.
USA, Ret.) says, yes, emphatically.
Thus we now begin to understand what Tesla's visionary mind was seeing as he
contemplated the TMT as a means of controlling the solar system for the benefit of earth and
man. We shudder, as today we contemplate the awesome power wielded by the military
machine of the Soviet Union. It is fearsome enough to contemplate Soviet scientists'
manipulation of the earth's weather patterns, and men's mind - in secret disregard for
humanity's needs. But to play Jovian games with the sun's energies and thereby imperil
the entire solar system is unquestionably the ultimate insanity of "civilized" man! We
can now understand why Tesla kept his knowledge of the sun secret from men. He knew that
they could not be trusted to wisely use this power. But now that the secret is out, and is being
used for anti-humanitarian and evil ends, all of mankind must rise in protest and stop this
barbarous abomination against man and God.
When the original manuscript of this book was written in 1978-1979, I did not know that
the U.S.A. had started to build TMT's in reaction to the Soviet TMT's. Now (1985) we know
that the U.S.A. has operational TMT's directed against the Soviet Union. Thus all humanity
and all forms of life are helplessly being bombarded by ELF signals designed to weaken and
damage them. (The HAARP Project has recently been connected to such Tesla technology as
132
indicated on the latest Public Broadcast Station show on Tesla, available from
but the add war EMI battle cited here hopefully may have subsided by
now. - Ed. note)
www. pbs.org/tesla,
SECTION FIVE
Titanic Forces Unleashed by the USSR (1976 - 1986) and by the USA (1980 - 1986)
The first definitive analysis of the new Soviet TMT technology appeared in the authoritative
journal Aviation Week & Space Technology. May 2, 1977, "Soviets Push for Beam Weapon,"
[1] and I quote:
"The Soviet Union is developing a charged-particle beam device designed to
destroy U.S. intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile nuclear
warheads. Development tests are being conducted at a facility in Soviet Central
Asia. The Soviets also are exploring another facet of beam weapons technology and
preparing to test a spaceborne hydrogen fluoride high-energy laser designed for a
satellite killer role. U.S. officials have coined the term directed-energy weapons
and high-energy lasers.
A charged-particle beam weapon focuses and projects atomic particles at the
speed of light which could be directed from ground-based sites into space to
intercept and neutralize reentry vehicles, according to U.S. officials. Both the
USSR and the U.S. also are investigating the concept of placing charged-particle
beam devices on spacecraft to intercept missile warheads in space. This method
would avoid problems with propagating the beam through the earth's atmosphere.
Because of a controversy within the U.S. intelligence community the details of
Soviet directed-energy weapons have not been made available to the President or to
the National Security Council.
Recent events have persuaded a number of U.S. analysts that directed-energy
weapons are nearing prototype testing in the Soviet Union. They include:
1) Detection of large amounts of gaseous hydrogen with traces of tritium in the
upper atmosphere. The USAF TRW Block 647 defense support system early
warning satellite with scanning radiation detectors and infrared sensors has
been used to determine that on seven occasions since November, 1975, tests that
may be related to development of a charged-particle beam device have been carried
out in a facility at Semipalatinsk.
2) Test of a new, far more powerful fusion-pulse magnetohydrodynamic generator
to provide power for a charged-particle beam system at Azgir in Kazakhstan
near the Caspian Sea. The experiment took place late last year in an underground
chamber in an area of natural salt dome formations in the desert near Azgir and was
monitored by the TRW early warning satellite stationed over the Indian Ocean.
3) Point-by-point verification by a team of U.S. physicists 126 and engineers
working under USAF sponsorship that the Soviets had achieved a level of success in
each of seven areas of high-energy physics necessary to develop a beam weapon.
4) Recent revelations by Soviet physicist Leonid I. Rudakov [2] during a tour
last summer of U.S. fusion laboratories that the USSR can convert electron beam
energy to compress fusionable material to release maximum fusion energy. Much of
the data outlined by Rudakov during his visit to the Lawrence Livermore
133
Laboratory has since been labeled top secret by the Defense Department and
the Energy Research and Development Administration.
5) Pattern of activity in the USSR, including deployment of large over-the-horizon
radars in northern Russia to detect and track U.S. 1CBM reentry vehicles,
development and deployment of precision mechanical/phased-array anti-ballistic
missile radar and massive efforts aimed at civil defense. The Semipalatinsk facility
where beam weapons tests are taking place has been under observation by the U.S.
for about 10 years. The central building at the facility is believed by some officials to
contain a collective accelerator, electron injector and power stores. The building is
200 ft. wide and 700 ft. long, with walls of reinforced concrete 10-foot thick, the
entire facility, with its associated support equipment is estimated to have cost
$500 million. The test site is at the southern edge of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test
area, and it is separated from other test facilities. It is surrounded by a series of
security fences. The total amount invested by the USSR in the test project for the 10
years' work there is estimated at $3 billion by U.S. analysts. The U.S. used highresolution photographic reconnaissance satellites to watch as the Soviet technicians
had four holes dug through solid granite formations not far from the main largebuilding at the facility. Mine heads were constructed over each opening, and
frames were built over the holes. As tons of rocks were removed, a large
underground chamber was built deep inside the rock formation. In a nearby building,
huge extremely thick steel gores were manufactured. The building has since been
removed. These steel segments were parts of a large sphere estimated to be about 18
meters (57.8 ft.) in diameter. Enough gores for two complete spheres were
constructed. U.S. officials believe the spheres are needed to capture and store energy
from nuclear-driven explosives or pulse-power generators. [3] The steel gores are
believed by some officials to be among the earliest clues as to what might be taking
place at the facility. The components were moved to the nearby mine heads and
lowered into the chamber. One of the major problems in gaining acceptance of the
concept within the U.S. scientific community was to convince high-energy physics
experts that the Russians might be using nuclear explosive generators as a power
source to drive accelerators capable of producing high intensity proton beams of
killing potential. U.S. officials, scientists and engineers queried said that the
technologies that can be applied to produce a beam weapon include:
1) Explosive or pulsed power generation through either fission or fusion to
achieve peak pulses of power.
2) Giant capacitors capable of storing extremely high levels of power for fractions
of a second.
3) Electron injectors capable of generating high-energy pulse streams of electrons at
high velocities. This is critical to producing some types of beam weapons.
4) Collective accelerator to generate electron pulse streams or hot gas plasma
necessary to accelerate other subatomic at high velocities.
5) Flux compression to convert energy from explosive generators to energy to
produce the electron beam.
6) Switching necessary to store the energy from the generators in large capacitors.
7) Development of pressurized lines needed to transfer the pulses from the
generators to power stores. The lines must be cryogenically cooled because of the
extreme power levels involved.
For several years, Air Force Maj. Gen. George J. Keegan, who until his recent
retirement headed USAF's intelligence activities has been trying to convince the
134
Central Intelligence Agency and a number of top U.S. high-energy physicists that
the Soviets are development a charged-particle beam weapon for use in an
antiballistic missile role.
It was anticipated by Gen. Keegan and his advisers that the USSR would be forced
to vent gaseous hydrogen from the experiments at Semipalatinsk and that early
warning satellites could detect it. Liquid hydrogen in large amounts is believed by
some officials to be utilized to cushion the nuclear explosive generator sphere and for
cryogenic pumping of large drift tubes nearly a kilometer in length through which the
beams are propagated for underground testing. In both cases, large amounts of
gaseous hydrogen are formed and released into the atmosphere, probably carrying
large amounts of nuclear debris or radioactive tritium that can be exploded at
altitude and dispersed to avoid harming the people below, according to some U.S.
scientists. "Explosions of such gaseous hydrogen discharges are now being
detected with regularity from Soviet experiments," a U.S. official said, "and
scientific studies of the gas releases and explosions have confirmed their source as
being near the Semipalatinsk facility."
In recent public pronouncements, Gen Keegan has taken the CIA to task for having
rejected Air Force Intelligence information about Soviet beam weapon development.
He also has spoken bitterly about a number of top U.S. physicists who refuse to
accept even the possibility that the Soviets are involved in beam weapon
development. Most of the physicists who would not accept the data were older
members of the scientific community who had been involved in research and
development from the early days of a project called "Seesaw" The U.S. attempted
unsuccessfully to develop a charged-particle beam device under the project code
named Seesaw. It was funded by the Defense Department's Advanced Research
Projects Agency but abandoned after several years.
A number of influential U.S. physicists sought to discredit General Keegan's
evidence about Soviet beam development. The general attitude was that, if the
U.S. could not successfully produce the technology to have a beam weapon, the
Russians certainly could not. "It was the original not-invented-here attitude," one of
the U.S. physicists said.
There were about 20 hypotheses advanced by these physicists and the CIA's
Nuclear Intelligence Board as to what the facility at Semipalatinsk was being used for
by the USSR. One theory was that it was a supersonic ramjet test site and another
was that it was a nuclear reactor test site for commercial applications. That was based
on the layout, which resembled some reactors in the USSR "There is now no doubt
that' there is dumping of energy taking place at the site with burning of large
hydrogen flames," one official said [5] "What bothered the Nuclear Intelligence
Board at first was that it was hard to imagine that some seven technologies
critical to the weapons concept could be perfected there within the time frame
presented and not be detected by us."
It is obvious that the splashing of radio interference all over the planet originating in the
Soviet Union has military scientists on edge as they try to second guess Soviet intentions
and technology. It is not too surprising that the U.S. military analysts would "guess" that the
Soviet Union were developing a "directed-beam" weapon, for this idea has a long history. The
invention of the directed-beam goes back to the year 1900, when Nikola Tesla invented his
"magnifying transmitter" which developed such high voltages that it equaled lightning bolt
effects found in nature. However, he did not reveal to the world the development of his
135
"directed-beam" until his 78th birthday. Joseph W. Alsop, Jr., writing in the New York Herald
Tribune on Wednesday, July 11, 1934, says under the headline:
Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles. Tesla's Claim on 78th Birthday.
"Dr. Nikola Tesla, inventory of polyphase electrical current, pioneer in high
frequency transmission, predecessor of Marconi with the wireless, celebrated his
78th birthday yesterday by announcing his invention of a beam of force somewhat
similar to the death ray of scientific romance.
It is capable, he believes, of destroying an army 200 miles away. It can bring down
an airplane like a duck on the wing, and it can penetrate all but the most enormous
thicknesses of armor plate. Since it must be generated at stationary power plants by
machines which involve four electrical devices of the most revolutionary sort, Dr.
Tesla considers it almost wholly a defensive weapon. In peace times, he says, the
beam will also be used to transmit immense voltages of power over distances
limited only by the curvature of the earth.
He came to the idea of a beam of force, he said, because of his belief that no
weapon has ever been found that is not as successful offensively as defensively.
The perfect weapon of defense, he felt, would be a frontier wall, impenetrable and
extending up to the limits of the atmosphere of the earth. Such a wall, he believes, is
provided by his beam of force. It is produced by a combination of four electrical
methods or apparatuses. First and most important is a mechanism for producing rays
and other energy manifestations in free air. Hitherto vacuum tubes have always been
necessary. Second is an apparatus for producing unheard-of quantities of
electrical current and for controlling it when produced. The current is necessary
as power for the first mechanism. Without this, no rays of sufficient strength could
be produced. The third is a method of intensifying and amplifying the second
process, and the fourth is a method of producing 'tremendous electrical repellent
force.'
'These four inventions in combination enable man to let loose in free air forces
beyond conception,' Dr. Tesla remarked mildly. By scientific application we can
project destructive energy in thread-like beams as far as a telescope can discern
an object. The range of the beams is only limited by the curvature of the earth.
Should you launch an attack in an area covered by these beams, should you say,
send in 10,000 planes or an army of a million, the planes would be brought down
instantly and the army destroyed. The plane is thus absolutely eliminated as a
weapon; it is confined to commerce. And a country's whole frontier can be
protected by one of the plants producing these beams every 200 miles. Nor should
they be much more costly than an ordinary power plant.
The beam of force itself, as Dr. Tesla described it, is a concentrated current it need
be no thicker than a pencil, of microscopic particles moving at several hundred times
the speed of artillery projectiles. The machine into which Dr. Tesla combines his four
devices is, in reality, a sort of electrical gun. He illustrated the sort of thing that the
particles will be, by recalling an incident that occurred often enough when he was
experimenting with a cathode tube. Then, sometimes, a particle larger than an
electron, but still very tiny, would break off from the cathode, pass out of the tube
and hit him. He said that he could feel a sharp, stinging pain where it entered his
body, and again at the place where it passed out. The particles in the beam of force,
ammunition which the operators of the generating machine will have to supply will
travel far faster than such particles as broke off from the cathode, and they will travel
136
in concentrations, he said. (Tesla probably discovered "charge clusters" that
penetrated his body, which were acting as an anode at ground potential. Ken
Shoulders rediscovered fifty years later that millions of electrons can coagulate into
clusters and penetrate any object, even steel. He also patented the process as a new
source of energy #5,018,180 and #5,148.461. - Ed. note)
As Dr. Tesla explained it, the tremendous speed of the particles will give them their
destruction-dealing qualities. All but the thickest armored surfaces confronting them
would be melted through in an instant by the heat generated in the concussion. Dr.
Tesla declared that the two most important of the four devices involved in his force
beam generator, the mechanism for producing rays in free air, and the mechanism
for producing great quantities of electrical current, had both been constructed and
demonstrated by actual experiments. The two intensifying and amplifying
apparatuses are not yet in existence but he displayed the most perfect confidence
that when they are, they will work as he expects them to do."
In a letter to His Majesty's government of Britain, dated August 28, 1936, Tesla offered
the secrets of his "beam of force" weapon. During the ensuing correspondence with the
Director of Mechanization, the War Office, London, S.W. 1 [84/T/3458 (M.G.OAb.)], there
is a letter from Tesla dated October 26, 1937 in which he states:
"My discoveries and inventions for securing complete immunity from any form of
attack constitute the most revolutionary technical advance in history and will affect
profoundly the future of humanity. They will save the lives of millions of people and
prevent destruction of property of inestimable value in all countries. They may also
be the means of preserving and strengthening the greatest empire on earth."
Tesla in this letter pressed for an early decision on the part of His Majesty's government,
and then said, "I am indifferent now as to whether these terms are accepted or not, but
venture to point out in all deference that if England does not take advantage of the present
opportunity, some foreign power might later exact a price so great as to strain to the utmost
the financial resources of Great Britain and cripple it seriously."
I might add that Tesla estimated in 1937 that the first beam of force plant could be built
for 10 million pounds sterling. Who knows, but God, what the history of World War II might
have been, had the British, in 1937, developed Tesla's beam-of-force defense system? Today,
forty years later, there is a possibility that the scientists of the Soviet Union have solved the
secrets of Tesla's beam-of-force system, now called the directed-beam system. The full
implications of the possible Soviet breakthrough are best summarized in the editorial in
Aviation Week for May 2. 1977 [8]:
"The Soviet Union has achieved a technical break-through in high-energy physics
application that may soon provide it with a directed-energy beam weapon capable of
neutralizing the entire United States ballistic missile force and checkmating this
country's strategic doctrine. The hard proof of eight successful Soviet tests of
directed-energy beam weapon technology gives new and overriding urgency to bring
these developments into the public domain and rip the veil of intelligence
secrecy so that this whole matter of vital national urgency and survival will finally
be brought to the attention of the President of these United States, the Congress
and the citizens of this republic whose future is at risk. In all of the previous four
years that these Soviet developments have been known to the official intelligence
137
community, they have been stifled by a conspiracy of skepticism and silence and
never once penetrated to the highest decision-making council of this country. The
incredible story of how the Soviets leap-frogged a generation of high-energy
physics technology and developed a workable experimental model of a directed
energy beam weapon now has been largely verified by the successive Soviet tests
at Semipalatinsk and Azgir and the brilliant work of a small group of extremely
young physicists in this country. The fact that this country still has a chance of
avoiding a crippling technological surprise that could render its entire strategic
missile force ineffective is due to the courageous, dogged and perceptive work of a
handful of U.S. Air Force intelligence specialists who polarized around the
leadership of Maj. Gen. George Keegan, Jr., recently retired chief of Air Force
intelligence.
We do not suggest any formal conspiracy to suppress the mounting evidence of a
massive Soviet research development, and industrial push aimed at the goal of an
anti-ICBM directed-energy beam weapon. Rather it was a combination of smug
American assurance that the Soviets were simply not capable of out-reaching us in
any technological race and the intellectual arrogance of elderly scientists who
through the ages have spent their twilight years proving that the next generation of
breakthroughs is 'impossible.'
In modern times, we have the continuing example of Dr. Vannevar Bush, who
thundered that the ICBM was a technical impossibility, and the assortment of
scientists in the Eisenhower era who firmly believed that manned spaceflight
should be abandoned because the human system could not survive its rigors. It was
a similar group of high-energy physicists, some heavy with Nobel laurels, who
encouraged the natural technical illiteracy of the Central Intelligence Agency to
discount the steadily growing stream of Soviet developments and to lead the bitter
intramural battles that suppressed the evidence from higher government councils
for crucial years.
There is still considerable debate over the real significance of the Soviet tests at
Semipalatinsk and Azgir and how long it will take the Soviets to translate their
experimental developments into a usable weapon. But there is no longer much doubt
among top-level U.S. high-energy physicists that it is feasible to develop a directedenergy beam device.
There is also an element in the Pentagon that can visualize the eventual Soviet
deployment of the directed-energy beam weapon as the end game of an intricate
chess exercise that began with the 1972 negotiation of the anti-ballistic missile
treaty, which effectively stopped not only U.S. deployment of an anti-ICBM
system but also most of its significant on-going research and development. The
hypothesis for this chess game, which ends in the early 1980's with the triumphant
Soviet shout of 'check and mate,' involves the U.S. finding its strategic deterrent
ballistic missile force stripped of any defensive system, with the Soviets using
their anti-ICBM directed-energy beam weapon to negate a U.S. retaliation and a
strong civil defense shield to minimize damage from the few warheads that night
penetrate.
The race to perfect directed-energy weapons is a reality. Despite initial skepticism,
the U.S. scientific community now is pressuring for accelerated efforts in this area."
While the Western military mind was focusing its tunnel vision on hardware and its
physical effects on material systems, the Soviets were creating subtle but profound effects on
the entire planetary biosphere. We shall review a number of the various effects that the
Soviets induced in living things in this chapter. The history of Soviet research in affecting
living things with electromagnetic radiation has a long history, and the interested reader is
referred to the recent book by Alexandr P. Dubrov, of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR,
which has some 1228 references on this subject. [9]
Of immediate interest is the fact that the Soviets began to irradiate the U.S. Embassy in
Moscow beginning in 1960, and for years afterward, with microwaves, or very high radio
frequencies. [10] (It is an historic fact that the U.S. installed copper sheets on the walls of the
embassy but a lot of the U.S. embassy workers were still stricken with cancer within a few
years. - Ed. note) This practice has been a puzzle to U.S. experts over the years. The Soviets
have never explained their intent, or their goals. It is my opinion that the Soviets have tried to
deflect the interest of the American experts away from the ELF radio spectrum by directing
their attention to the opposite end of the radio spectrum. [11]
It is small consolation to note that all the ideas and technologies for the TMT, including
weather modification, were carried out by Nikola Tesla in 1900. Tesla almost received
recognition for this work, and we quote from the New York Times, November 7, 1915. The
headline states:
Tesla's Discovery: Nobel Prize Winner
"Transmission of Electrical Energy without Wires, which affects Present-day
Problems." "To Illuminate the Ocean, Scientist says, Collisions will be Avoided,
and Unlimited Water Drawn to Irrigate Deserts."
Nikola Tesla, who with Thomas A. Edison, is to share the Nobel Prize in
Physics, according to a dispatch from London, said last evening that he had not yet
been officially notified of the honor. His only information on the matter was the
dispatch in the New York Times.
"I have concluded," he said, "that the honor has been conferred upon me in
acknowledgement of a discovery announced a short time ago which concerns the
transmission of electrical effects of unlimited intensity and power can be
produced, so that not only can energy be transmitted for all practical purposes to
any terrestrial distance, but even effects of cosmic magnitude may be created."
Mr. Tesla said the discovery had a direct and vital bearing on the problems now
foremost in the public mind. For instance, he said, wireless telephony would be
brought to perfection undreamed of through the application of this discovery. He
added, "We will deprive the ocean of its terrors by illuminating the sky, thus
avoiding collisions at sea and other disasters caused by darkness. We will draw
unlimited quantities of water from the ocean and irrigate the deserts and other arid
regions. In this way we will fertilize the soil and derive any amount of power from
the sun. I also believe that ultimately all battles, if they should come, will be waged
by electrical waves instead of explosives."
Alas for Tesla, the Nobel Prize was never formally awarded to him. But his ideas and
experiments on weather modification were quite specific, and used the same magnifying
transmitter power source, as would be used in over-the-horizon radar, or a directed-beam
weapon. What is not generally known is that Tesla invented a device that performs the
functions of a true over-the-horizon radar which he called "telegeodynamics". [14] In this
invention he introduced controlled seismic tapping of the earth, and with proper receivers, he
139
claimed to be able to keep track of every moving vehicle on the planet. But it would be more
colorful to quote his own words in an interview on his 7 9 t h b i r t h d a y from the New York
Times, July 11, 1935.
One of the subjects which he hoped, he said, will come to be recognized as
his "greatest achievement in the field of engineering," was, he said, the
perfection by him of "an apparatus by which mechanical energy can be transmitted
to any part of the terrestrial globe."
This apparatus, he said, will have at least four practical possibilities. It will give
the world a new means of unfailing communication; it will provide a new and by
far the safest means for guiding ships at sea and into port; it will furnish a certain
divining rod for locating ore deposits of any kind under the surface of the earth;
and finally, it will furnish scientists with a means for laying bare the physical
conditions of the earth, and will enable them to determine all of the earth's
physical constants.
He called this discovery "tele-geodynamics", motion of earth-forces at a distance.
Further details about this invention are given in The New York American of the same date.
The headline is:
TESLA'S 'CONTROLLED' EARTHQUAKE
Nikola Tesla, father of radio and of the modem method of electric power
transmission, observed his 79th birthday yesterday by drinking a quart of boiled milk
and outlining the latest of his many startling discoveries.
This is an apparatus by which energy can be transmitted to any part of the earth,
with practical possibilities in the navigation of ships, discovery of ore deposits and
determination of the physical properties of the earth's interior.
His experiments in transmitting mechanical vibrations through the earth, called by
him the art of telegeodynamics, were roughly described by the scientist as a sort of
"controlled earthquake."
The rhythmical vibrations pass through the earth with almost no loss of energy,
he said, and predicted the system in time will be universally adopted, since it
furnishes an "unfailing means of communication". [15]
He asserted: "It becomes possible to convey mechanical effects to the greatest
terrestrial distances and produce all kinds of unique effects of inestimable value to
science, industry and the arts."
The invention could be used with destructive effect in war, he said, by
exploding bombs thousands of miles away which had been equipped with apparatus
to receive the vibrations.[16]
Tesla once said to a reporter with respect to his telegeodynamic art of "controlled
earthquakes" that with a small amount of power it would take about two weeks to two months
of vibration of the earth to bring it to full resonance, "and it could be made to split in two —
like an apple. "[17] Is there a possibility that the Soviets are experimenting with Tesla's
method of "controlled earthquakes"? (As the cold war ended with the fall of the Berlin wall,
the Soviet Union being dissolved, the new Russia has little funding for such activities since
the U.S. has become its ally. However, the technological process still exists. - Ed. note)
140
REFERENCES
SECTION ONE
1. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, February 1919, pp. 696-697 and p. 743. "My
Inventions - 1. My early life." by Nikola Tesla. This autobiography was published in
five installments. O'Neill, John J.
2. PRODIGAL GENIUS, The Life of Nikola Tesla. Ives Washburn, Inc. New York,
1944.
3. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER. Op. Cit.
4. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, April 1919, pp 864-865."My Inventions: - My
Later Endeavours. The Discovery of the Rotating Magnetic Field." by Nikola Tesla.
My principal source for this information was the late John Rays Hammond, Jr. of
Gloucester, Mass.
5. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, April 1919. Op. Cit. When a conducting metal
is cooled below a certain critical temperature (usually near absolute zero, minus 273
C.), it loses all resistance to the flow of electricity. Therefore, once an electrical the
electrical current continues to flow on and on without damping. Such "infinite"
conduction will continue as long as the temperature remains below the critical
temperature. This phenomenon is called superconductivity Brian D. Josephson
received the Nobel prize in 1973 for a most important discovery connected with this
phenomenon signal is initiated in such a super-cooled conductor, current continues
to flow on and on without damping.
6. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER. April 1919. Op. Cit.
7. Figure 3 is most important in that it is the foundation for understanding how the
Soviets could transmit a magnet wave around the planet. One looks at the region
between 270° and 0°, where AC-1 and AC-2 cross. The crossing point represents the
region of the two Soviet transmitters, one in Gomel, and the other in Riga. (Compare
with Figure 10.) By adjusting the proper frequency phase differences between the
two transmitters they will create a standing magnetic wave which follows a great
circle route on the planet whose center is Rigs and Gomel, and whose circle course is
some 45° from this center. See SECTION FOUR for a more detailed explanation.
8. PRODIGAL GENIUS. Op. Cit.
SECTION TWO
1.
2.
3.
The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla. Ed. by Thomas
Commerford Martin. Published by the ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, New York,
1894. 496 pp. Chapter 111, pp. 9-25. "The Tesla Rotating Magnetic Field."
A kind of magnetic "back-pressure" that damps free-oscillation in a circuit.
The Maxwell Equations define the relation between electric fields, E and magnetic
fields, H, where v denotes the electric charge, and j the current density; c is the
velocity of light.
141
4.
The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla. Op. Cit. Chapter
XXVIII, pp. 294-378. "On Light and other High Frequency Phenomena." Fcbruary,
1893.
5. Ibid. Chapter XXVII, pp. 198-293. "Experiments with Alternate Currents of High
Potential and High Frequency." A Lecture delivered before the Institution of
Electrical Engineers, London. February, 1892.
6. This is a clue already known to Tesla as to the frequencies required to produce
electrical plasmas, and ball lightning. These have been produced over Canada, and
the Soviet Union by the Soviet ELF emissions.
7. At the Columbia World's Fair in Chicago, Tesla demonstrated before the public that
he could pass lore than a million volts through his body with safety. This was in
August 1893.
8. London Lecture, Op. Cit. supra Note 5 .
9. PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cit.
10. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, June 1919, pp. 112-113. "My Inventions - 5.
The Magnifying Transmitter." by Nikola Tesla.
SECTION THREE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, June 1919,
PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cit.
PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cir.
PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cit.
"High Frequency Oscillators for Electro-Therapeutic and other Purposes." Paper
read by Nikola Tesla, September 13, 1898 at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the
American Electro-Therapeutic Association, Buffalo, New York. T H E
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, December 23, 189l, p.670."Massage with Currents of
High Frequency" by N. Tesla.
ELECTRICAL REVIEW, March 11, 1896. "On Roentgen Rays" by Nikola Tesla.
PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cit. Also, Letter to the Editor by N. Tesla.
PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cit. Also, The New York Times, February 6, 1932.
COLORADO SPRINGS NOTES, 1899 - 1900 (Eng Pub. by NOLIT, Beograd.
Yugoslavia, 1978 (English Edition), Nikola Tesla.
Ibid., p. 169. Tesla explicitly makes a note in his diary that he is omitting making
notes of his researches on superconductivity as follows: "The following items, partly
worked out, omitted for want of time: From 1-30 September 1899. Method of
increasing magnifying factor of resonant circuits by coiling."
It was not until 1960 that Balser and Wagner (published in NATURE, Vol. 188, No.
4751, 1961) proved what Tesla had already proved in 1895. Namely, they showed
that the earth-cavity was resonant at 8 FIz. More precise studies done by M.J.
Rycroft showed (in Figure 6) that the ELF spectrum had its fundamental at 7.8 + 0.2
HE RADIO SCIENCE, Journal of Research, NBS/USNC - URSI, Vol. 69D, No. 8.
August 1965, pp. 1071-1081. "Resonances of the Earth-ionosphere Cavity observed
at Cambridge, England." Neither of these authors mentions Tesls's researches of six
decades earlier.
COLORADO SPRINGS NOTES, Op. Cit.
THE WORLD TODAY, Vol XXI, No. 8, February 1912, pp. 718-722. "Nikola
Tesla, Dreamer" by Allan t. Benson.
142
14. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, May 1919, p. 21. "The True Wireless" by
Nikola Tesla.
15. In 1976, it was just those effects which the Soviets had replicated, and which were
measured in Canada.
16. PRODIGAL GENIUS, Op. Cit.
17. Tesla mates careful notes in the COLORADO SPRINGS NOTES, Op. Cit., to study
the ELF effects on both planes and animals.
18. TALKING WITH THE PLANETS, by Nikola Tesla. Colliers Illustrated Weekly,
Vol. XXVI,No. 19, January 9, 1901.
SECTION FOUR
3.
4.
5.
8.
9.
1. THE CENTURY Illustrated Monthly Magazine, June 1900, "The Problem of
Increasing Human Energy," by Nikola Tesla.
2. This velocity has recently been measured and is of the order of 600 km
per second, or 372.82 per second, or expressed as 1,342,159 miles per hour.
THE CENTURY, Op. Cit.
Personal communication from John Hays Hammond, Jr. to the author.
Letters from Tesla to the governments named, now in the Tesla Museum, Belgrad,
Yugoslavia.
6. Tesla's unpublished description of his Telegeodynamic Oscillator - method and
means.
7. News items about the expulsion of the KGB from Canada in early February 1978,
These references have been misplaced by author (April 24, 1979).
The New York Times, January 29, 1978, "Plunge from Orbit," Section 4. The Week
in Review.
RADIO ELECTRONICS, March 1977, p. 6. Scientists were able for the first time to
determine the structure of the sun's magnetic field from data returned by Pioneer II
satellite. The sun's magnetic field is roughly spherical, and envelops the entire solar
system - some 3,700,000,000 x 2 miles in diameter.
10. Kamiya, Joe, "Conscious Control of Brain Waves," PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, April
1, 1968, pp. 57-60.
11. Wiener, Norbert, CYBERNETICS, Wiley, New York, 1948.
12. Bremner, Frederick J. V. Begnignus, and F. Moritz. NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA,
Vol. 10, 1972, pp. 307-312.
13. Akasofu, Syun-ichi and Sydney Chapman, SOLAR TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS.
The International Series of Monographs on Physics. Oxford University Press, Ely
House, London W. 1, 1972. Figure 11 is adapted from Figure 6.44 on page 439.
14. Rycroft, M.J. "Resonances of the Earth-Ionosphere Cavity observed at Cambridge,
England," RADIO SCIENCE, A Journal of Research, NBS/USNC-URSI, Vol. 69D,
No. 8, August 1965. Figure 12 is adapted from Figure 6 of this article.
15. Puharich, Andrija, PROTOCOMMUNICATION. A lecture given at the Twentieth
International Conference, August 27, 1971, St. Paul de Vence, France. Published in
THE PROCEEDINGS of the Parapsychology Foundation, 29 West 57th Street, New
York, 10022. 1972.
16. I do not have the exact references to this work at hand, but they can be found by
reference to the work of Dr. Enrici Clementi of IBM, San Jose, California.
17. The velocity of the first orbital in the Bohr hydrogen atom is 1359 miles/sec. This
yields a factor of 4.678.
143
18. I am indebted to Hugh Harleston, Jr. for help and advice in helping to solve this part
of the problem.
19. Akasofu, Op. Cit. Figure 13 is adapted from Figure 3.3 on page 115.
20. Akasofu, Op. Cit. Figure 14 is adapted from Figure 6.15 on page 388.
21. Akasofu, Op. Cit. Page 321 and 389
22. See "Ozone Paper," where the author proved this theory in developing a new and
successful treatment for cancer. (Reprinted as "How Transdermal Electrotherapy
Led to Highly Efficient Water Electrolysis With Anomalous Organic Molecule
Formation and a Spinoff that Successfully Treated Neoplasms in Mice, " Energetic
Processes, Volume I, Xlibris Pub., 2002, p. 238, www.xlibris.com - Ed. note)
23. "Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research," DEFENSE
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. Prepared by the U.S. Army Medical Intelligence and
Information Agency, Office of the Surgeon General, DST-1810S-387-75, DZA
TASK PT-1810-12-75. September 1975.
24. Galejis, J., Terrestrial Propagation of Long Electromagnetic Waves, Pergammon
Press, New York, 1972
SECTION FIVE
1.
This authoritative article was written by Military Editor, Clarence A. Robinson, Jr.
Editor Robert Hotz in an editorial on this article, entitled "Beam Weapon Threat",
states: (p. 11) " We do not suggest any formal conspiracy to suppress the mounting
evidence of a massive Soviet research, development and industrial push aimed at the
goals of an anti-ICBM directed-energy beam weapon. Rather it was a combination
of smug American assurance that the Soviets were simply not capable of outreaching us in any technological race, and the intellectual arrogance of elderly
scientists who through the ages have spent their twilight years proving that the next
generation of breakthroughs is impossible".
2. Leonid I. Rudakov, Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, Moscow, is listed as one
of the key developers of high-current acceleration technology in the Soviet Union
(AIR FORCE MAGAZINE, September 1977, page 126).
3. Col. Bearden describes in his writings how these steel gores (spheres) can be used in
a psychotronic warfare.
4. Project Seesaw was an attempt to repeat Nikola Tesla's particle beam accelerator
weapon.
5. It is interesting to note that on the day following his discovery of the stationary
waves in the earth, Tesla in his notes of July 5, 1899 makes plans to produce large
amounts of hydrogen. COLORADO SPRINGS NOTES, Op. Cit.
6. The limitation of the energy travel, in a line of sight, by the curvature of the earth,
tells us that this particle beam, as described in Appendix A, is he prototype of the
types being developed in the USSR, and most recently in USA.
7. This letter is in the author's files.
8. Op. Cit. under Reference 1, Supra
9. Dubrov, A.P. THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD AND LIFE, Plenum Press, New York
and London, 1978.
10. There is a vast literature on this subject, much too large to quote here. The interested
reader can find all of the pertinent and up to date literature in : Paul Brodeur: "The
Zapping of America: Microwaves, their deadly risk and the cover up". W.W. Norton
and Co., New York, 1977.
144
11. Unpublished documents in author's files.
12. The function of this satellite is to keep the Soviet electromagnetic radiation pulsing
(at ELF frequencies) aimed at the inner proton belt in order to maintain peak power
through resonance. Einaudi, F., and Wait, J.R., "Analysis of the excitation of the
earth-ionosphere waveguide by a satellite-borne antenna." Parts II and CANADIAN
J. PHYSICS, 49: 11, No. 4, 1971.
13. Author's note: As of this writing (February 1978), the winter of 1977-78 has turned
out to be the worst since 1883 in the northeast US. (Later note: April 1979). The
winter of 1978-1979 has turned out to be the worst on record for the Midwest US.
14. Tesla's own unpublished description of this art.
15. It is well to point out here that in the event of a nuclear all-out war, all radio
communication "signal" would be lost in the "static and noise" resulting from
excessive atmospheric ionization. It may well be that the Soviets are also developing
Tesla's Telegeodynamic system for communication in the event of an all out nuclear
war.
16. There is real concern among intelligence officials with whom I have talked in the
US, Canada and from countries of Western Europe that the Soviets already have this
capability.
17. Benson, Allan L.: "Nikola Tesla, Dreamer," THE WORLD TODAY, Vol.XXI,
No.8, February 1912, p.722.
Andrija Puharich was an author, inventor, and a medical doctor. His patents include
#3,586,791, #3,629,521, #3,497,637, #2,995,633, #3,170,993, and #4,394,230. His books
include Uri, Beyond Telepathy, The Sacred Mushroom, and The Iceland Papers. An
interesting example of the battles he fought and lost is contained in the patent Court of
Appeals case, No. 22286, Puharich vs. Brenner (US Patent Quarterly, V. 162, p. 136, June
25, 1969).
145
Worldwide Wireless Power Prospects
Kurt Van Voorhies, Ph.D., P.E.
Adated from Proceedings of IECEC, 1991
ABSTRACT
Worldwide wireless power began as a concept with the pioneering work of Nikola Tesla
about 100 vears ago. His principal approach is summarized. The viability of such a system
must still be demonstrated and many questions remain. Potentially, a wireless system can
transfer power more efficiently and flexibly, especially to and from remote regions. The
principal elements of worldwide wireless power transfer include: 1) the source: an
oscillator/transmitter, 2) the path: the cavity bounded by the earth and the ionosphere and 3)
the receiver: a means of extracting power from the path. The system transfers and stores
energy via the resonance modes of the cavity. The key challenges facing demonstration of
technical feasibility are in finding an efficient means of coupling power into and out of the
earth-ionosphere cavity, and in devising a feasible receiver that is both small and efficient.
Along with demonstrating technical feasibility, new research must consider safety,
environmental impact, susceptibility to weather, and effects on weather.
INTRODUCTION
Nikola Tesla pioneered the concept of worldwide wireless power transfer about 100 years
ago, beginning with work on high voltage, high frequency single electrode lighting systems,
and following with development of the Tesla Coil, The Magnifying Transmitter, and the
single electrode x-ray tube. The Tesla Wireless system and concepts leading thereto are
documented in Tesla's notes [1,2] patents [3,4], lectures [4-8] and published articles [4, 5, 911] and described by Tesla's biographers [12,13] and others [14, 15]. Following the death of
Tesla in 1943, the concept lay dormant until referenced by Wait in 1974 [16,17] in
conjunction with extremely low frequency communications, followed by Marincic's
illuminating review in 1982 [18] and subsequent technical analysis by Corum and Corum [1924], Golka [25,26] replicated the oscillator used in Tesla's Colorado Springs experiments for
studying ball lightning and plasma containment for nuclear fusion, Corum and Corum [27-31]
have also replicated Tesla's ball lightning experiments but with smaller scale equipment.
However, Tesla's worldwide wireless power concept remains unverified.
PRINCIPLES OF WORLDWIDE WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER
Consider the earth as a large spherical capacitor or cavity resonator, comprising the terra
firma as the inner conductor, the lower atmosphere as the insulating dielectric, and the upper
atmosphere (electrosphere) and ionosphere as the outer conductor. Power is coupled into the
cavity via either direct conduction/displacement, or radiation, with high power RF oscillators
or transmitters tuned to the cavity's resonant frequency. A remove receiver, also tuned to this
resonant frequency, then extracts this power wirelessly. The propagation loss in the earthionosphere cavity increases with frequency but, at the fundamental frequency, is about 11%
less than the equivalent loss on a 200KV power line. The wireless concept described here
differs from that used in microwave wireless power transmission in that the latter beams
power along a line of sight path, normally from outer space to earth [32]
147
PROMISES OF WORLDWIDE WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER
The benefits of wireless power transfer have not changed since originally described by
Tesla in 1900 [9] and 1904 [10]. A cheap, efficient means of distributing energy would
revolutionize development and improve access to new energy sources. Energy could be
coupled into the cavity at the source, eliminating the need for the costly and time-consuming
process of constructing and maintaining power transmission lines. The system would enable
better utilization of remote sources of energy and would facilitate power transfer to remote
users worldwide. While Tesla primarily proposed supplying power for lighting in conjunction
with his high frequency single electrode lighting systems, he also envisioned ":..energy of a
waterfall made available for supplying light, heat and motive power anywhere - on sea, or
land or high in the air... "[10]. Of course, the economic viability of such a system depends
upon either 1) a technical means for controlling/measuring the supply and use of wireless
power around the world, or 2) a very low cost source energy.
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a prolific inventor best known for the AC induction motor and AC
polyphase distribution system which are the basis for our present AC power system. His other
inventions include the Tesla coil, high frequency generators, the Tesla Magnifyomg
Transmitter, key elements of radio, single electrode high frequency, the single electrode x-ray
tube, a viscous turbine, and remote control. Following his developments in low frequency AC
machines and power distribution systems , Tesla experimented with single electrode, high
frequency, high voltage lamps utilizing rarefied gases, the forerunner of present fluorescent
lights. Initially he utilized patented high frequency alternators with 384 poles to produce the
necessary 20 KHz power, but subsequently invented the disruptive discharge high voltage
transformer, a.k.a. Tesla Coil, in 1891 [33].
In a Tesla Coil, low frequency AC power is amplified in voltage with a conventional
transformer. The output of this transformer feeds the Tesla Coils' resonant LC primary circuit
through a spark gap. The spark gap creates a broad spectrum of energy, components which
resonate the primary and secondary circuits of the Tesla coil. The secondary of the Tesla Coil
is tuned to be electrically 1/4 wavelength long, with one terminal grounded, and acts as a "slow
wave" device to resonantly amplify the voltage further.
Tesla found that the high frequency output from the Tesla coil could readily power lights
and motors utilizing a single wire with a ground return. Tesla presented these results in this
lecture to the IEE in London in 1892[7]. Following the work of Kelvin and Crookes, Tesla
also noted that slightly rarefied gases were excellent conductors, leading him to propose a
system for "... transmitting intelligence or perhaps power, to any distance through the earth or
environing medium". [34] In February 1893, at his lecture on high frequency currents before
the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia (repeated in March in St Louis.) Tesla proposed to
determine the capacitance of the earth and the period of oscillations resulting from a
disturbance of the earth's charge . After subsequent patented improvements to the Tesla Coil
Tesla patented the single wire power distribution system in March., 1897, [35] and patented
the wireless power distribution 6 month later [36,37]. In the wireless system , the single wire
conductor was replaced by a conductive path through a slightly rarefied gas coupled to bodies
of large surface area, or open capacitors, connected to the high tension terminals of the
transmitter and receiver, thus forming an open resonator circuit between the body and the
earth. In his patent, Tesla claimed the use of the conductive layers in the upper atmosphere as
the conductive path.
148
in the 1892 lecture in London, Tesla noted that " It is quite possible, however, that such 'no
wire' motors, as they might be called, could be operated by conduction through the rarefied
air at considerable distances. Alternate currents, especially of high frequencies, pass with
astonishing freedom trough even slightly rarefied gases. The upper strata of the air are of
difficulties of a merely mechanical nature. There is no doubt that with the enormous potential
is obtainable by the use of high frequencies and oil insulation, luminous discharges might be
passed through many miles of rarefied air, and that by thus directing the energy of many
hundreds of thousands of horsepower, motors or lamps might be operated at considerable
distances from stationary sources. But such schemes are mentioned merely as possibilities.
We shall have no need to transmit powers in this way. We shall have no need to transmit
powers at all. Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable
at any point of the universe... "[38] Tesla demonstrated plasma conduction in a glass tube with
rarefied air surrounding a central axial platinum electrode, he observed that the wire was
heated only at the ends, and not in the middle. He also observed that the pressure at which the
gas becomes conducting is directly related to the applied voltage.
Colorado Springs Laboratory
Tesla moved to Colorado Springs in May 1899, after reaching the limits of his New York
Laboatory with Tesla Coils operating at 4 million volts. The dry, electrostatic filled air at the
2000 m facility in Colorado Springs facilitated his developments. His primary and secondary
c o i l s w e r e 5 1 ft. in diameter, and it was here that he developed the concept of an extra coil
placed in series with the secondary but with loose inductive coupling so as to enable large
resonant amplification of voltage. In addition to the development and improvement of the high
power Tesla coil, Tesla concentrated on the development of sensitive receivers necessary for
detecting communication signals. On July 3, 1899, using these devices, Tesla monitored the
progression of a passing thunderstorm, observing electrical standing waves which he
attributed to the storm's disturbance of the earth's electrical charge and a corresponding
propagation of this disturbance around the conductive globe. Tesla also experimented with his
single electrode x-ray tubes. The oscillator reportedly operated at frequencies between 45KHz
and 150 KHz, at voltages between 12 MV and 18MV, and with secondary currents as high as
1100A [1,12,12,39].
Wardenclyffe Laboratory
Funded principally by J.P. Morgan, Tesla proceeded with the construction of a system of
"World Telegraphy" at Wardenclyffe on Long Island upon his return from Colorado Springs
in 1900 [12,13]. While he intended to use the facility publicly for communications, Tesla's
secret aim was to implement wireless power transfer. The facility featured at 187 ft. wooden
tower designed to support a 68 ft. diameter copper hemisphere, which was not completed
because of Tesla's difficulty in obtaining funding following Marconi's success in
demonstrating transoceanic wireless communication with much simpler equipment (albeit
using Tesla's patents in the process) The transmitted was to have operated at 30 MV, which
Tesla claimed was sufficient for worldwide power distribution; however, the transmitter was
designed to handle up to 100MV. Aside from its toroidal elevated capacitor, patent 1,119,732
[40] filed in 1902 shows the Wardenclyffe configuration of the transmitter, which
incorporated the 'extra coil" from the Colorado Springs experiments.
TESLA'S Concept of Worldwide Wireless Power Transfer
149
Tesla outlined the requirements for wireless powcr distribution in patent 787.412,
describing the earth as "....behaving like a perfectly smooth or polished conductor of
inappreciable resistance with capacity and self-induction uniformly distributed along the axis
of symmetry of wave propagation"[41]. He described reflections of signals from antipodes,
the points on the globe diametrically opposite from the transmitter, as being similar to those
from the end of a conducting wire, thus creating stationary waves on the conductive surface.
He provided three requirements for resonance: 1) the earth's diameter should be equal to an
odd number of quarter wavelengths, 2) the frequency should be less than 20 KHz to minimize
Hertzian radiation; and 3) most critical, the wave train should continue for a minimal period
which he estimates to be 1/12 second, and which represents the period of time for a wave to
propagate from and return to the source at a mean speed of 471,240 Km/sec. Tesla conceived
the wave as propagating through the earth along a straight line path, the effect on the outside
surface being that of concentric rings expanding to the equator and then contracting until
reaching the opposite pole. Tesla also applied a fluid analogy to the earth and the water level
representing the earth's state of charge at any given point. While his earlier work emphasized
ground currents as the mechanism for transferring power, he later indicated that he had
conclusively demonstrated that "... with two terminals maintained at an elevation of not more
than thirty thousand to thirty five thousand feet above sea level, and with an electrical pressure
of fifteen to twenty million volts, the energy of thousand of horse-power can be transmitted
over distances which may be hundreds, and, if necessary, thousands of miles. In am hopeful,
however that I may be able to reduce very considerably the elevation of the terminals now
required... "[42].
Summary of Tesla's Proof of Concept
Tesla claimed to have observed the effects of the Colorado Springs transmitter at a distance
of up to 600 miles. An advertising brochure for the World Telegraphy system claims the
transmission of power around the globe in sufficient quantity to light incandescent lamps
(50watts). Others report that a bank of 200 watt lamps, 50 watts each, were lit at a distance pf
26 miles [12,13]. The article in Century magazine shows photographs of an isolated extra coil
powering and incandescent lamp as evidence of "...electrical vibrations transmitted to it
through the ground from the oscillator..." [43]. However, this extra coil was most likely
within the inductive field of primary transmitter, with the ground serving as a return path.
Rationale for a Renewed Interest in Wireless Power Transfer
Given Tesla's firm and unending belief in the feasibility of wireless power transfer, yet his
inability, after considerable expenditure of time and money, to conclusively demonstrate its
viability, the reader may question why there is a renewed interest in demonstrating the
feasibility of wireless power transfer. Aside from the benefits outlined initially, the best
reason probably lies in both 1) the legacy of Tesla himself, and 2) the fact that because of
insufficient funding, Tesla was never able to teat a facility that had been developed strictly for
power transfer, and thus hi wireless power transfer concept remains to be proven.
The legacy of Tesla speaks for itself in terms of his many and varied significant
inventions, his insightful pioneering understanding of physics and electrical engineering, his
tremendous drive and creative energy enabling him to constructively, work long hours on a
protracted basis guided by a keen sense of vision, his ability to visualize and test concepts in
his mind enabling him to achieve good results with little trail and error, and his genuine
150
concern for improving the condition of humanity. The breath of his accomplishments at
Colorado Springs with less than 8 months exemplifies these. The Colorado Springs
experiments focused primarily in the development of wireless communications, i.e.,
radio
rather than wireless power transfer. As indicated by Marincic [18], 56% of his time was spent
in developing the Tesla Coil, 21% on receivers for small signals, 16% on measuring the
capacity of the vertical antenna, and 6% on miscellaneous other research, including fireballs.
Wireless power transmission experiments were limited to small distances.
Tesla shared much with the world in the form of his patents, publications, lectures,
he was also a very secretive person, and never fully documented his intended configuration
for the wireless power system, even though he was confident there would be a workable
solution. He believed that that his Magnifying Transmitter (Tesla Coil w/extra coil designed to
excite the earth) would ultimately be recognized as his greatest invention [11], and felt that
there would be no problem in wireless disturbing the earth's energy. He also believed the
universe to be so full of energy that, ultimately, wireless distribution would not be necessary.
Modern day researchers attempting to follow his path, must also be part detective. Tesla's
belief and confidence in wireless power transfer is clear, however, so too was Edison's belief
in magnetic ore separation, which, like Tesla's experience with Wardenclyffe, left him in deep
financial debt. [44]
Recent Developments
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Tesla's work on high voltage, high
frequency phenomena. Beginning in 1968, R. Golka formed Project Tesla to measure, under
Air Force Contract , aircraft susceptibility to lighting discharge and to repeat Telsa's ball
lighting experiments for application to laser fusion, hi the process, he replicated Tesla's
Colorado Springs transmitter and succeeded in operating it at twice Tesla's original power
levels [25,26]. In 1986, Golka and Grotz proposed the application of this device to artificially
resonating the earth-ionosphere waveguide [45].
Cheney reports on wireless power projects that had been planned and some partially
implemented circa 1977-1980 in Canada, Central Minnesota and Southern California. [13]
Wait indicated how Tesla's early wireless experiments were the forerunner of modern
developments in ELF. He observed that Tesla's fluid analogy for the process is faulty in its
assumption that all of the signal energy would propagate through the fluid medium, i.e. the
earth. Also faulty was Tesla's notion that energy propages to the antipode via the center of the
earth, although it is not known if Tesla had viewed this as a conceptual model as opposed to a
physical model as presently interpreted.
Marincic, in his annotations of Tesla's Colorado Springs Notes [1,2] and his excellent
review of Tesla's wireless work [18] applies results from recent ELF experimental data to
show that the transfer of power via ELF radiation would be extremely inefficient. He indicates
that for a typical gridded ELF antenna, 106 m. total length, that the antenna operating
efficiency would be only 0.026% and for both receiving and transmitting antennas, the total
efficiency would be (0.026%), not to mention the path loses, which are as low as 0.25 dB/Mm
at 10Hz and 0.8dB/Mm at 50Hz. For a fixed size antenna, efficiency increases with operating
frequency, but so do path losses, so that for long distance power transfer, the overall
efficiency of a radiation-based system will be low.
Corum and Corum [27-31] also replicated some of Tesla's Colorado Springs fireball
experiments but with much smaller scale equipment. This work extended to a critical
engineering evaluation of Tesla's wireless power concept. [20-23], showing how the current
moment in the tower of Tesla's transmitter could be used to excite the Shummann resonances
151
in the earth-ionosphere cavity. They also hypothesized that Tesla intended to use hit single
electrode x-ray to both ionize a current path to the sphere of elevated capacitance and to
rectify the RF energy enabling the sphere to be electrostatically charged at RF rates [20,21]
The sphere would then be discharged to ground, either naturally or via a second x-ray device,
at a Schumman resonance frequency. Corum and Corum have also verified that Tesla's
electrical measurements such as the attenuation constant, phase velocity, cavity resonant
frequency and Q are consistent with modem measurements [23] and that the loses due to glow
discharge around the transmitter would be small [21].
J. F. Corum patented a toroidal helical antenna [46,47] one of whose applications could be
a waveguide probe for either ELF communications or wireless power transfer. This antenna is
physically small while reportedly possessing good radiating efficiencies with vertical
polarization. Since the propagating Schumman modes are primarily vertically polarized, a
vertically polarized antenna would have a distinct advantage over the horizontally polarized
example presented by Marincic. However, in applying Corum's design formula to the 8 Hz
example presented in his patent, one finds that an antenna with a 6 Km major radius (0.0002)
free space wavelengths) would require a virtual continuum of 43, 200 semicircular loops each
600 m in diameter, with a total conductor length equivalent to half the circumference of the
earth.
The Q of the earth-ionosphere cavity is generally reported to be about 6-8 but Corum and
Spaniol [48] indicate that a low Q cavity does not necessarily limit the practicability of
wireless power. However, Sutton and Spaniol [49] found that the previously measured Q
values were limited by instrument noise and using modern equipment they measured levels as
high as 1000, which they say were also confirmed by others. [50].
In 1986-1988, Nash, Smith, Craven and Corum of WVU utilized a 1/4 wave coaxial
resonator to develop a high frequency "Tesla Coil" and proposed coupling this device to a
Tesla single electrode x-ray tube to generate ionizing radiation with possible application to
wireless power transfer [53].
THE KEY ELEMENTS OF WORLDWIDE WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER
The key elements of worldwide wireless power transfer consist of:
1. source/transmitter
2. path
3. receiver
4. system considerations
5. environmental impact
6. economic viability
Each of these will now be explained in more detail, along with their subgroups.
Source/Transmitter
The source/transmitter, consisting of Tesla's Magnifying Transmitter is the most highly
developed elements of the system, as evidenced by the standard terminology of "wireless
power transmission". In this paper, the term "transfer" emphasizes the importance of other
system elements as well. The Tesla Coil is remarkable efficient power processing element,
and Corum and Corum have shown that Tesla's Colorado Springs Transmitter operated a
power levels high by even modern standards, with peak average power levels some four
orders or magnitude higher that those of the Stanford Linear Accelerator. [21]
152
Earth-Electrosphere/Ionoshpere Cavity with Dielectric Atmosphere
The path comprises the earth (ground) and the atmosphere. The ground is a good conductor
at lower frequencies, conductivity decreasing with frequency due to the skin effect. The lower
atmosphere is normally a good insulator. At higher altitudes the air becomes conductive due
to ionization casued by cosmic rays. The conductive layer, termed the electrosphere, [54]
provides an electrostatic shield and an equipotential surface due to its high conductivity
relative to the ambient currents. Lord Kelvin, in 1860 [55] originally postulated the existence
of such a conductive layer based upon the fact that rarefied gases act as good conductors, and
he thus postulated that this conductive layer together with the earth and intervening insulating
atmosphere forms a capacitor. The potential of the electrosphere is about 300 KV. The
ionosphere, located above the electrosphere, is caused by ionizing solar radiation, different
ionospheric layers (D,E,F) being attributed to different components of the radiation. The
ionosphere is that part of the earth's atmosphere which reflects radio waves [54,56] . The
properties of the path are normally measured under conditions (voltage, current, frequency)
quite different from those expected for wireless power transfer, and this should be considered
before drawing conclusions on the suitability of the path for such purposes. Also, the effects
of weather on conductivity and the effects of magnetic storms must be considered.
Spherical Cavity Modes
The spherical cavity between the ground and the ionosphere resonates at specific modes as
predicted by Schumman [57,58] and discussed by Wait[59] and Galejs[60]. The transverse
electric field mode (TE) is cutoff below 1.5 KHz, so for the ELF frequencies normally
considered for wireless power transfer, the cavity will only support transverse magnetic TM
waves, [61]. The first seven Schumann resonances are naturally excited by lightning and this
fact has been used to track lightning strikes around the globe. [61-67]. The polarization and
ellipticity of the waves vary diurnally. Waves propagating in the cavity are attenuated with
distance due to the finite conductiveness of the conductive and dialectric layers, and the
attenuation increase exponentially with frequency, increasing from 0.25 dB/Mm at 10 Hz to
20 dB/Mm at 1 KHz. (compared with 1.15 dB/Mm for a conventional 200KV power line
[24]. Tesla has indicated that very little power is required to maintain a state of resonance in
the cavity [21].
Waveguide Coupling
The key issue in wireless power transfer is how to couple power into and out of the cavity
with minimal, or at least acceptable loss. Corum and Corum have indicated that Tesla more
likely created the necessary current moments to excite the cavity by electrostatically charging
an isolated capacitance at RF rates via a single electrode x-ray tube and then suddenly
discharging this capacitance at a resonant frequency of the cavity [20-21]. They reported that
the currents measured by Tesla would have been sufficient to generate relatively weak ELF
global field strengths . Tesla noted that the discharge tended to pass upward away from
ground, which he attributed to either electrostatic repulsion, or convection of the heated air.
However, with such an electrically short tower, radiation into the cavity at cavity resonant
frequencies would not be sufficiently efficient for technical or commercial viability. And while
a resonating cavity would have purely reactive fields, and hence zero point radiation
resistance together with non-stationary fields would be required for power transfer within the
153
cavity. A radiative coupling approach appears to be infeasible for reasons stated above by
Marincic.
Transmission Line Coupling
A second method for coupling power into the cavity would be via direct
conduction/displacement with the conductive surfaces of the waveguide, which appears to be
Tesla's original concept dating back to 1892. Several mechanisms could be considered as
follows: 1) Recall that, in 1900, he proposed using balloons at 30-35 thousand feet of
elevation. Conceivably the power could be conducted to these via an ionization path, created
by a single electrode x-ray tube driven by the transmitter. 2) The conducting path formed by
ionizing radiation might be used to couple directly into the electro sphere without the elevated
conductive sphere. 3) An approach might also be borrowed from those used in present
ionospheric modifications experiments [68]. 4) Perhaps with the extremely high operating
voltages that Tesla had proposed, the displacement coupling with the atmospheric conduction
path would be direct, as apparent from an artist's rendition of wireless power distribution from
Tesla's Wardenclyffe facility [69], Tesla originally indicated that the atmosphere could be
made conductive at lower elevations with either high voltage or high frequency so this should
be studied further. . With such a direct coupling approach, the power transfer mechanism
would then be a spherical "transmission line", rather than a spherical wave guide.
Ground Currents
The ground currents in Tesla's Colorado Springs experiments were reported to have caused
sparks within the ground, and to have shocked horses through their metal shoes within 1/2 mile
from his transmitter. [70]. As an aside, ground currents were separately exploited for
communications during WW I, when conversations over the then prevalent single wire
telephone systems were susceptible to enemy interception by differentially amplifying the
signals extracted from two separate and displaced ground plates. The phenomenon of
magnetospheric plasma whistler waves was first noticed with these receivers, but was not
identified until later [71].
Power Loss
Power loss can occur in all elements of the path, which have finite conductivity: the
ground, the dielectric lower atmosphere, and the conductive upper atmosphere. Elaborate and
extensive ground planes are often constructed with antenna systems in order to minimize
resistive power loss to the ground. Since the ground is an intrinsic conductive element, losses
are inevitable, but can be reduced by operating at lower frequencies and/or establishing
distributed area contacts at the transmitter and receiver sites. The poor conductivity of the
Colorado Springs soil appears to have caused Tesla some difficulty [1]. At Wardenclyffe,
Tesla was planning to use saltwater filled with viaducts under the transmitter to establish a
good ground connection. Similar to the ground, atmospheric losses can be reduced by
operating at lower frequencies. This appears to conflict with Tesla's notion that gases conduct
better at high frequencies, but could be explained by higher dialectric losses. One important
feature to the wireless system is the possibility of storing power in the resonating fields within
the earth-ionosphere cavity, however, the feasibility of doing this will be dependent upon the
Q of the cavity and upon the relative amount of excess power being stored therein. As Tesla
had indicated, the power losses are reduced with higher operating voltage since power would
154
then be distributed at lower current levels. Precipitation can dramatically change the
conductivity of the atmosphere, and the effects of this on power coupling need to
be
considered further.
Receiver
The receiver is the least understood element of the system, and one that is most crucial to
the system's success. For system using a radiative coupling mechanism, an antenna's
efficiency and size both benefit from higher operating frequencies which, as noted above,
increased the system's path losses. A transmission line approach would require
conductive/displacement coupling into the electrosphere, which requires invention and
development.
Tesla expressed confidence in being able to extract power for both individual and home use
as well as for powering ground and air transportation vehicles, as illustrated in an artist's
rendition [69]. He indicated in patent 649,621: "Obviously the receiving coils, transformer, or
other
apparatus may be movable - at, for instance, when they are carried by a vessel
floating
in the air or by a ship at sea. In the former case the connection of one terminal of the
receiving
apparatus to the ground might not be permanent, but might be intermittently or inductively
established without departing from the spirit of my invention. IT is to be noted here that the
phenomenon here involved in the transmission of electrical energy is one of true conduction
and is not to be confounded with the phenomenon of electrical radiation which have
heretofore been observed and which from the very nature and mode of propagation would
render practically impossible the transmission of any appreciable amount of energy to such
distances as are of practical importance [36].
Tesla separately described the utilization of energy from ionized air, in connection with
his description of the art of telautomatics; "Most generally I employed receiving circuits in
the form of loops, including condensers, because the discharges of my high-tension
transmitter, ionized the air in the hall so that even a very small aerial would draw electricity
from the surrounding atmosphere for hours. Just to give an idea, I found for instance, that a
bulb 12 inches in diameter, highly exhausted, and with one single terminal to which a short
wire was attached, would deliver well on to one thousand successive flashes before all charge
of the air in the laboratory was neutralized..." [72]
Systems Considerations
A wireless system would entail a multiplicity of transmitters and receivers each coupling
into a common propagation and storage cavity, each requiring proper phasing and balance.
Safety
A wireless power system would expose the entire biosphere to ELF fields of varying
intensity. The 78 Hz Seafarer/Sanguine/ELF submarine communication system provoked
health concerns, as do high-tension power lines. The fields of wireless and wire-based power
transmission systems need to be compared for equivalent power levels. There is much
speculation about the adverse effects of magnetic fields on health. However, recent reports
from PACE indicate that ELF energy at the lower Schumman resonance frequencies constitute
a natural biological clock [71]. The first four Schumman resonances frequencies are within the
range of brain wave activity. The fundamental mode is coincident with the theta wave
spectyrum, which ranges from 4 to 8 Hz, and is attributed to a normally unconscious state with
155
enhanced mental energy and a high level of creativity. [72] The next three Schumma modes
are coincident with the beta wave spectrum which ranges from 13 to 26 Hz, and is associated
with the normal conscious state.
Environmental Impact
Operating at high voltages and surrounded by a glow discharge, the transmitter could be a
source of pollutants, including ozone, NO and nitric acid, as reported by Tesla during his
experiments and steps would have to be taken to mitigate any such hazards if they exist.
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
The operating frequencies of a wireless system could be expected to be low enough so as to
not interfer with present communications of electronic systems. The FCC does not make
frequency allocations below 9Khz and Tesla had predicted the operating frequency to be
below 20 Khz. Circuit interrupters in conventional Tesla coils could be expected to create a
significant amount of wide-band EMI; however, modern transmitters could be expected to
utilize more advanced switching devices which, together with shielding, could minimize
radiated EMI/RFI. The glow discharge surrounding the high transmitter could also be a source
of EMI/RFI.
Weather Modification
Since the potential of the electrosphere is about 300 KV relative to the earth, and the
wireless system as proposed by Tesla was designed to operate at 30-100MV, there is a
significant potential for electrically disturbing the atmosphere. It is not know whether this
would be beneficial or harmful. Vonnegut [75] has suggested that the destructive effects of
tornadoes may result from atmospheric electrical effects; however, Wilkins [76] concluded
from laboratory model vortex experiments that the electrical effects were the effect, rather
than the cause, of tornadoes.
Economic Viability
Given technical feasibility and safety, the wireless power transfer system must still be
economically viable in order to succeed. Multiple transmitter could conceivably be phased to
control the location of antinodes form which power could be extracted, however, this could be
at best, a short term solution, unless wireless is constrained to a relatively few large scale
facilities that will be expensive and technically difficult to construct. The worldwide
regulation and control of wireless power distribution will be difficult if physically constrained
to operate at selected resonant frequencies.
CONCLUSION
Times have changed since Tesla's initial investigations of wireless power. Tesla originally
envisioned a distributed network of relatively low level suppliers and users of wireless power,
and thought it would benefit remote users the most, although he also envisioned large scale
power distribution. Our power needs have dramatically increased over the past 100 years, as
have their complexity. Tesla expressed great confidence in the viability of wireless power
distribution, yet was unable to see its fruition after nearly 50 years of effort. The fulfillment of
156
his vision was undoubtedly impeded by limitation on funds and resources. Tesla demonstrated
that the earth can be electrically resonated. The key challenge to feasible worldwide wireless
power distribution is whether a means can be found for efficiently coupling power into and
out of the cavity formed by the earth, the atmosphere, and the electrosphere/ionosphere.
Radiative coupling does not appear to be viable . A conductive approach is proposed which is
consistent with Tesla's original wireless concepts; this requires, however, further invention
and development. The receiver is the element requiring the most development to make
wireless power transfer feasible.
REFERENCES
1. Tesla, N Colorado Springs Notes 1899-1900 with commentaries by A Marincic , 1978
Nolti. Yugoslavia.
2. Ratzlaff, J.T., and Jost, F.A. Dr. Nikola Tesla ( I English Serbo-Croatian
Diary
Comparisons, II Serbo-Croatian Diary Commentary by A. Marincic III Tesla/Sherff
Colorado Springs Correspondence 1899-1900), 1979 Tesla Book Co., Millbrae, CA.
3. Katzlaff, J.T. Dr Nikola Tesla, Complete Patents, 1983 Tesla Book Co. Millbare CA
4. Nikola Tesla Museum Nikola Tesla Lectures, Patents, Articles, 1956, Nolit, Beograd,
1973, Health Research, Mokelume Hill Ca.
5. Martin, T.C. The inventions Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla , 1894, The
Electrical Engineer, New York, 1986, Angriff Press, Hollywood Ca.
6. Tesla, N. Lecture delivered before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers at
Columbia College, NY May 20, 1891 Reference [5] ppl45-197 Reference 4 pp L-15L47
7. Tesla, N. Lecture delivered before the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London
February 1892, Reference 5 pp;. 198-293. Reference 4 pp. L-48.
8. Tesla, N, Lecture delivered before the Franklin Institute Philadelphia Pa February
1893 and before the National Electric Light Association St. Louis March 1893,
Reference
5
pp
294-373
Reference
4
pp
L-107-L-155
9. Tesla, N "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy" The Century Illustrated Monthly
Magazine,
June
1900
also
in
Reference
4
pp
A-109-A-152
10. Tesla, N. "The Transmission of Electric Energy without Wires", Electrical World and
Engineering, March 5, 1904, also in Reference [4] pp. A-153-A-161.
11. Tesla, N, "My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla,", (introduction by B.
Johnston), 1919, Hart Brothers, Williston, Vermont, 1982.
12. O'Neal, J.J, "Prodigal Genius" The Life of Nikola Tesla. David McKay Co.,
New
York,
1955,
also
Angriff
Press,
Hollywood,
Ca.
13. Cheney, M, "Tesla: Man out of Time, Dell New York, 1981.
14. Friedlander, G.D., "Tesla Eccentric Genius", IEEE Spectrum June 1972 pp.26-29
15. Trinkas, G. Tesla: The lost Inventions, High Voltage Press, Portland Oregon, 1988
16. Wait, J.R. "Historical Background and Introduction to the Special Issue on Extremely
Low Frequency (ELF) Communication" IEEE Transactions on Communications. Vol.
COM_22
No.
4,
Apnl
1974,
pp.353-354.
17. Wait, J.R. "Propagation of ELF Electromagnetic Waves and Project
Sanguine/Seafarer, IEEE J. Oceanic Engr. Vol OE-2 No.2 April 1977, pp. 161-172
18. Marincic, A.S. "Nikola Tesla and the Wireless Transmission of Energy" IEEE
Trans.on Power Apparattus and Systems Vol. PAS-101, No. 10 October 1982, 40544068
157
19. Corum, J F., and Corum K.L., A Technical Analysis of the Extra Coil as a slow wave
Helical Resonator". Proceedings of the Second International Tesla Symposium,
Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1986.
20. Corum, J.F. and Corum, K.L. "A Technical Analysis of the Extra Coil as a Slow Wave
Helical Resonator", Proceedings of the Second International Tesla Symposium,
Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1986.
21. Corum, JF. And Corum K.L., "Critical Speculations Concerning Tesla's Inventions
and Applications of Single Electrode X-Ray Directed Discharges for Power
Processing, Terrestrial Resonances and Particle Beam weapons." Proceedings of the
Second International Tesla Symposium, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1986.
22. Corum, J.F. and Aidinejad A, "The transient Propagation of ELF Pulses in the Earth
ionosphere Cavity". Proceedings of the Second International Tesla Symposium,
Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1986.
23. Corum J.F. and Corum K.L., "A Physical Interpretation of the Colorado Springs Data"
Proceedings of the Second International Tesla Symposium, Colorado Springs,
Colorado, 1986.
24. Corum J. F. and Smith, J.E., "Distribution of Electrical Power by Means of Terrestrial
Cavity Resonator Modes" Proposal submitted to Planetary Association for Clean
Energy Inc, December 1986.
25. Golka R.K. " Long Arc Simulated Lightning Attachment Testing using a 150 Kwh.
Tesla Coil (unknown publication status),
26. Golka, R.K. "Project Tesla" Radio, Electronics, February 1981, 48-49, also see
Reference [13] pp 282-284
27. Corum, J.F., and Corum K.L. "Laboratory Generation of Electric Fire Balls"
(unknown publication status).
28. Corum J.F. & Corum K.L. "The laboratory Production of Electric Fire Balls"
(unknown publication status).
29. Corum, J. F & Corum, K.L "Production of Electric Fire Balls" (unknown publication
status).
30. Corum, J.F., Edwards J.D. and Corum K.L, "Further experiments with Electric Fire
balls (unknown publication status).
31. Michrowski, A., "Laboratory Generation of Electric Fireballs" Planetary Association
for Clean Energy Newsletter" Vol.6, No. 1 July 1990, pp.21-22
32. Glasser, P.E. Solar Power from Satellites" Physics Today, February 1977, pp.30-37,
summarized in Reference [13] pp. 284-285
33. Tesla, N. Patent 462-418, Method and Apparatus for Electrical Conversion and
Distribution " Application filed on February 14, 1891, Reference [3] p. 211, Reference
[4],p;P-221
34. Reference [8]; Reference [5] p. 349
35. Tesla, N. Patent 593,138, "Electrical Transformer" Application filed on March 20,
1897, Reference [3] p. 301 Reference [4] p. P-252
36. Tesla N. Patent 649, 621, " Apparatus for Transmission of Electrical Energy".
Application filed on September 2, 1897, Reference [3] p. 311
37. Tesla N. Patent 645,576 "System of Transmission of Electrical Energy" Application
filed on September 2, 1897 Reference [3] p. 311.
38. Reference [7] Reference [5] p. 235
39. Tesla N. "Possibilities of Electro-Static Generators" Scientific American March 1934,
115, 132-134, 163-165 April 1934, 205.
158
41.
42,
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
159
40. Tesla N. Patent 1,119,732 "Apparatus for Transmitting Electrieal Energy", application
filed on September 2, 1897. Reference [3] p. 397, Reference [4] p. P-331
Tesla N Patent 787,412, " Art of Transmitting Electrical Energy through the Natural
Media" Application field on May 16, 1900 Reference [3] p. 435 Reference [4] p. P357
Reference [9] Reference [4] p. A-150
Reference
[9],
Reference
[4]
p.
A-123
Peterson, M "Thomas Edison Failure" Inventions and Technology, Vol, 6 NO. 3
Winter
1991,
pp.8-14
Golka R.K and Grotz, Toby "Proposal: Project Tesla The demonstration of Artificial
Resonating the Earth's Ionosphere Waveguide, a precursor for the wireless
transmission of vast amounts of electrical power using the Earth's Schumman's
Cavity"
October
28,
1986
Corum J.F. Patent 4,622,558 "Toroidal Antenna" Application filed on November 7,
1985
Corum J.F. Patent 4,751,515, "Electromagnetic Structure and Method" Application
field
on
July
23,
1986
Corum J.F. Corum K.L and Spaniol C. "Concerning Cavity Q" Proceedings of the
International Tesla Symposium 1988, summarized in Reference [49]
Sutton, J.F. and Spaniol C. "A Measurement of the Magnetic Earth-Ionosphere Cavity
Resonances in the 3-30 Hz range", Presented at the International Tesla Symposium
1988.
Personal correspondence
Michrowski, A. The Planetary Association for Clean Energy Newsletter Vol. 5 Nos 3
&4 December 1987, p. 6
Reference [31] p.3
Nash, M Smith J.E, and Craven R P,M. "A Quarter-Wave Coaxial Cavity as a Power
Processing Plant"
p. 285 in Michrowski A New Energy Technology, Planetary
Association for Clean Energy. 1990.
Chalmers, J.A., Atmospheric Electricity, Pergamon Press, N.Y. pp. 13, 33-35
Kelvin, Lord "Atmospheric Electricity" Royal Institute Lectures, Pap or Elec and
Mag. Pp.208-226, summarized in Reference [54]
Davies, K, Ionospheric Radio Propagation, US Dept of Commerce, NBS, Monograph,
80, 1965
Schumman W.O. "On the radiation free selfoscillations of a conducting sphere which
is surrounded by an air layer and an ionospheric shell" (in German) Z Naturfosch, 72,
1952, 145-154, summarized in Reference [59,60,61]
Schumman W.O. "On the damping of electromagnetic selfoscillations of the system
earth-air-ionosphere (in German), Z. Naturforsch , 72, 1952, 250-252 summarized in
references [59,60,61]
Wait, J.R. Electromagnetic Waves in Statified Media, Pergamon Press, New York
1970
Galejs, J. Terrestrial Propagations of Long Electromagnetic Waves, Pergamon Press,
New York, 1972
Sentman D.D. "Magnetic elliptical polarization of Schumman resonances" Radio
Science, Vol. 22, No. 4, July-August 1987, pp.595-606
Sentman D.D. "PC Monitors Lightning Worldwide" Computers in Science. Premier,
1987, page 25-34
63. Coroniti S. and Huges, J. Planetary Electrodynamics Vol. 2 Gordon and Breach, New
York, 1969, summarized in Reference [61]
64. Jones, D.L. and Kemp, D.T. "Experimental and Theoretical observations on the
transient excitation of Schumann resonances" Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial
Physics, Vol 32, 1970 pp 1095-1108
65. Kemp, D.T. "The global location of large lightning discharges from single station
observations of ELF disturbances in the Earth Ionosphere cavity" Journal of t h e
Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics Vol.33, 1981, pp. 919-927.
66. Jones, D.L.,"Extremely low frequency (ELF) Ionospheric Radio Propagation Studies
Using Natural Sources" IEEE trans on Communications, Vol Com-22 No 4, April
1974, pp. 477-484.
67. Mitchell, V. B. "Schumman resonance - some properties of discrete events" Journal of
Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, Vol 38, 1976, pp. 77-78
68. Eastlund, B.J and Ramo, S. Patent 4,712,155 "Method and Apparatus of Creating an
Artificial Electron Cyclotron Heating Region of Plasma" Application filed on January
28, 1985
69. Reference [11] p. 89
70. Reference:[13] p. 138.
71. Stix, T.H. "Waves in Plasmas: Highlights from the past and present" Phys. Fluids B 2
(8) August 1990, 1729-1743
72. Reference: [1l]p.l07.
73. Reference: [31] p. 4.
74. Allen W. G. Overlords and Olympians, Health Research, 1974, Mokelume Hill,
California, p. 12
75. Vonnegut, B. "Electrical theory of Tornadoes" J Geophys, Res. 65, 1950-203-212
summarized in Reference [54]
76. Wilkins, E.M. "The role of electrical phenomena associated with tornadoes" J.
Geophys Res. 69, 1964, 2435-47 summarized in reference 54.
Kurt Van Voorhies holds patents #5,442,369, and #6,239,760 and can be reached at Vortekx,
Inc., DeTour Village, MI, vortekx@sault.com
160
8 On the Transmission of
Electricity Without Wires
Nikola Tesla
Reprinted from Electrical World and Engineer, March 5, 1904
It is impossible to resist your courteous request extended on an
occasion of such moment in the life of your journal. Your letter has
vivified the memory of our beginning friendship, of the first
imperfect attempts and undeserved successes, of kindnesses and
misunderstandings. It has brought painfully to my mind the
greatness of early expectations,
the quick flight of time, and alas! the smallness of realizations. The following lines which, but
for your initiative, might not have been given to the world for a long time yet, are an offering
in the friendly spirit of old, and my best wishes for your future success accompany them.
Towards the close of 1898 a systematic research, carried on for a number of years with the
object of perfecting a method of transmission of electrical energy through the natural medium,
led me to recognize three important necessities: First, to develop a transmitter of great power;
second, to perfect means for individualizing and isolating the energy transmitted; and, third, to
ascertain the laws of propagation of currents through the earth and the atmosphere. Various
reasons, not the least of which was the help proffered by my friend Leonard E. Curtis and the
Colorado Springs Electric Company, determined me to select for my experimental
investigations the large plateau, two thousand meters above sea-level, in the vicinity of that
delightful resort, which I reached late in May, 1899. I had not been there but a few days when
I congratulated myself on the happy choice and I began the task, for which I had long trained
myself, with a grateful sense and full of inspiring hope. The perfect purity of the air, the
unequaled beauty of the sky, the imposing sight of a high mountain range, the quiet and
restfulness of the place—all around contributed to make the conditions for scientific
observations ideal. To this was added the exhilarating influence of a glorious climate and a
singular sharpening of the senses. In those regions the organs undergo perceptible physical
changes. The eyes assume an extraordinary limpidity, improving vision; the ears dry out and
become more susceptible to sound. Objects can be clearly distinguished there at distances
such that I prefer to have them told by someone else, and I have heard—this I can venture to
vouch for—the claps of thunder seven and eight hundred kilometers away. I might have done
better still, had it not been tedious to wait for the sounds to arrive, in definite intervals, as
heralded precisely by an electrical indicating apparatus—nearly an hour before.
In the middle of June, while preparations for other work were going on, I arranged one of
my receiving transformers with the view of determining in a novel manner, experimentally,
the electric potential of the globe and studying its periodic and casual fluctuations. This
formed part of a plan carefully mapped out in advance. A highly sensitive, self-restorative
device, controlling a recording instrument, was included in the secondary circuit, while the
primary was connected to the ground and an elevated terminal of adjustable capacity. The
variations of potential gave rise to electric surgings in the primary; these generated secondary
currents, which in turn affected the sensitive device and recorder in proportion to their
intensity. The earth was found to be, literally, alive with electrical vibrations, and soon I was
deeply absorbed in the interesting investigation. No better opportunities for such observations
as I intended to make could be found anywhere. Colorado is a country famous for the natural
displays of electric force. In that dry and rarefied atmosphere the sun's rays beat the objects
161
with fierce intensity. I raised steam, to a dangerous pressure, in barrels filled with
concentrated salt solution, and the tin-foil coatings of some of my elevated terminals
shriveled
up in the fiery blaze. An experimental high-tension transformer, carelessly exposed to the rays
of the setting sun, had most of its insulating compound melted out and was rendered useless.
Aided by the dryness and rarefaction of the air, the water evaporates as in a boiler, and static
electricity is developed in abundance. Lightning discharges are, accordingly, very frequent
and sometimes of inconceivable violence. On one occasion approximately twelve thousand
discharges occurred in two hours, and all in a radius of certainly less than fifty kilometers
from the laboratory. Many of them resembled gigantic trees of fire with the trunks up of
down. I never saw fire balls, but as compensation for my disappointment I succeeded later in
determining the mode of their formation and producing them artificially.
In the latter part of the same month I noticed several times that my instruments were
affected stronger by discharges taking place at great distances than by those near by. This
puzzled me very much. What was the cause? A number of observations proved that it could
not be due to the differences in the intensity of the individual discharges, and I readily
ascertained that the phenomenon was not the result of a varying relation between the periods
of my receiving circuits and those of the terrestrial disturbances. One night, as I was walking
home with an assistant, meditating over these experiences, I was suddenly staggered by a
thought. Years ago, when I wrote a chapter of my lecture before the Franklin Institute and the
National Electric Light Association, it had presented itself to me, but I dismissed it as absurd
and impossible. I banished it again. Nevertheless, my instinct was aroused and somehow I felt
that I was nearing a great revelation.
It was on the third of July—the date I shall never forget—when I obtained the first decisive
experimental evidence of a truth of overwhelming importance for the advancement of
humanity. A dense mass of strongly charged clouds gathered in the west and towards the
evening a violent storm broke loose which, after spending much of its fury in the mountains,
was driven away with great velocity over the plains. Heavy and long persisting arcs formed
almost in regular time intervals. My observations were now greatly facilitated and rendered
more accurate by the experiences already gained. I was able to handle my instruments quickly
and I was prepared. The recording apparatus being properly adjusted, its indications became
fainter and fainter with the increasing distance of the storm, until they ceased altogether. I was
watching in eager expectation. Surely enough, in a little while the indications again began,
grew stronger and stronger and, after passing through a maximum, gradually decreased and
ceased once more. Many times, in regularly recurring intervals, the same actions were
repeated until the storm which, as evident from simple computations, was moving with nearly
constant speed, had retreated to a distance of about three hundred kilometers. Nor did these
strange actions stop then, but continued to manifest themselves with undiminished force.
Subsequently, similar observations were also made by my assistant, Mr. Fritz Lowenstein, and
shortly afterward several admirable opportunities presented themselves which brought out,
still more forcibly, and unmistakably, the true nature of the wonderful phenomenon. No
doubt, whatever remained: I was observing stationary waves.
As the source of disturbances moved away the receiving circuit came successively upon
their nodes and loops. Impossible as it seemed, this planet, despite its vast extent, behaved like
a conductor of limited dimensions. The tremendous significance of this fact in the
transmission of energy by my system had already become quite clear to me. Not only was it
practicable to send telegraphic messages to any distance without wires, as I recognized long
ago, but also to impress upon the entire globe the faint modulations of the human voice, far
more still, to transmit power, in unlimited amounts, to any terrestrial distance and almost
without loss.
162
With these stupendous possibilities in sight, and the experimental evidence before me that
their realization was henceforth merely a question of expert knowledge, patience and skill, I
attacked vigorously the development of my magnifying transmitter, now, however, not so
much with the original intention of producing one of great power, as with the object of
learning how to construct the best one. This is, essentially, a circuit of very high self-induction
and small resistance which in its arrangement, mode of excitation and action, may be said to
be the diametrical opposite of a transmitting circuit typical of telegraphy by Hertzian or
electromagnetic radiations. It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the marvelous power of
this unique appliance, by the aid of which the globe will be transformed. The electromagnetic
radiations being reduced to an insignificant quantity, and proper conditions of resonance
maintained, the circuit acts like an immense pendulum, storing indefinitely the energy of the
primary exciting impulses and impressions upon the earth of the primary exciting impulses
and impressions upon the earth and its conducting atmosphere uniform harmonic oscillations
of intensities which, as actual tests have shown, may be pushed so far as to surpass those
attained in the natural displays of static electricity.
Simultaneously with these endeavors, the means of individualization and isolation
were
gradually improved. Great importance was attached to this, for it was found that simple tuning
was not sufficient to meet the vigorous practical requirements. The fundamental idea of
employing a number of distinctive elements, co-operatively associated, for the purpose of
isolating energy transmitted, I trace directly to my perusal of Spencer's clear and suggestive
exposition of the human nerve mechanism. The influence of this principle on the transmission
of intelligence, and electrical energy in general, cannot as yet be estimated, for the art is still
in the embryonic stage; but many thousands of simultaneous telegraphic and telephonic
messages, through one single conducting channel, natural or artificial, and without serious
mutual interference, are certainly practicable, while millions are possible. On the other hand,
any lesired degree of individualization may be secured by the use of a great number of cooperative elements and arbitrary variation of their distinctive features and order of succession.
For obvious reasons, the principle will also be valuable in the extension of the distance of
transmission.
Progress though of necessity slow was steady and sure, for the objects aimed at were in a
direction of my constant study and exercise. It is, therefore, not astonishing that before the
end
of 1899 I completed the task undertaken and reached the results which I have announced in
my article in the Century Magazine of June, 1900, every word of which was carefully
weighed.
Much has already been done towards making my system commercially available, in the
transmission of energy in small amounts for specific purposes, as well as on an industrial
scale. The results attained by me have made my scheme of intelligence transmission, for
which the name of "World Telegraphy" has been suggested, easily realizable. It constitutes, I
believe, in its principle of operation, means employed and capacities of application, a radical
and fruitful departure from what has been done heretofore. I have no doubt that it will prove
very is efficient in enlightening the masses, particularly in still uncivilized countries and less
accessible regions, and that it will add materially to general safety, comfort and convenience,
and maintenance of peaceful relations. It involves the employment of a number of plants, all
of which are capable of transmitting individualized signals to the uttermost confines of the
earth. Each of them will be preferably located near some important center of civilization and
the news it receives through any channel will be flashed to all points of the globe. A cheap
and simple device, which might be carried in one's pocket, may then be set up somewhere on
sea or land, and it will record the world's news or such special messages as may be intended
for it. Thus the entire earth will be converted into a huge brain, as it were, capable of response
163
in every one of its parts. Since a single plant of but one hundred horse-power can operate
hundreds of millions of instruments, the system will have a virtually infinite working capacity,
and it must needs immensely facilitate and cheapen the transmission of intelligence.
The first of these central plants would have been already completed had it not been for
unforeseen delays which, fortunately, have nothing to do with its purely technical features.
But this loss of time, while vexatious, may, after all, prove to be a blessing in disguise. The
best design of which I know has been adopted, and the transmitter will emit a wave complex
of total maximum activity of ten million horse-power, one per cent, of which is amply
sufficient to "girdle the globe." This enormous rate of energy delivery, approximately twice
that of the combined falls of Niagara, is obtainable only by the use of certain artifices, which I
shall make known in due course.
For a large part of the work which I have done so far I am indebted to the noble generosity
of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, which was all the more welcome and stimulating, as it was
extended at a time when those, who have since promised most, were the greatest of doubters. I
have also to thank my friend, Stanford White, for much unselfish and valuable assistance.
This work is now far advanced, and though the results may be tardy, they are sure to come.
Meanwhile, the transmission of energy on an industrial scale is not being neglected. The
Canadian Niagara Power Company have offered me a splendid inducement, and next to
achieving success for the sake of the art, it will give me the greatest satisfaction to make their
concession financially profitable to them. In this first power plant, which I have been
designing for a long time, I propose to distribute ten thousand horse-power under a tension of
one hundred million volts, which I am now able to produce and handle with safety.
This energy will be collected all over the globe preferably in small amounts, ranging from a
fraction of one to a few horse-power. One its chief uses will be the illumination of isolated
homes. I takes very little power to light a dwelling with vacuum tubes operated by highfrequency currents and in each instance a terminal a little above the roof will be sufficient.
Another valuable application will be the driving of clocks and other such apparatus. These
clocks will be exceedingly simple, will require absolutely no attention and will indicate
rigorously correct time. The idea of impressing upon the earth American time is fascinating
and very likely to become popular. There are innumerable devices of all kinds which are
either now employed or can be supplied, and by operating them in this manner I may be able
to offer a great convenience to whole world with a plant of no more than ten thousand horsepower. The introduction of this system will give opportunities for invention and manufacture
such as have never presented themselves before.
Knowing the far-reaching importance of this first attempt and its effect upon future
development, I shall proceed slowly and carefully. Experience has taught me not to assign a
term to enterprises the consummation of which is not wholly dependent on my own abilities
and exertions. But I am hopeful that these great realizations are not far off, and I know that
when this first work is completed they will follow with mathematical certitude.
When the great truth accidentally revealed and experimentally confirmed is fully
recognized, that this planet, with all its appalling immensity, is to electric currents virtually no
more than a small metal ball and that by this fact many possibilities, each baffling imagination
and of incalculable consequence, are rendered absolutely sure of accomplishment; when the
first plant is inaugurated and it is shown that a telegraphic message, almost as secret and noninterferable as a thought, can be transmitted to any terrestrial distance, the sound of the human
voice, with all its intonations and inflections, faithfully and instantly reproduced at any other
point of the globe, the energy of a waterfall made available for supplying light, heat or motive
power, anywhere-on sea, or land, or high in the air-humanity will be like an ant heap stirred
up with a stick: See the excitement coming!
164
9 The True Meaning of Wireless
Transmission of Power
Toby Grotz
Reprinted from Tesla: A Journal of Modern Science, 1997
Abstract
Many researchers have speculated on the meaning of the phrase "non-Hertzian waves"
as used by Dr. Nikola Tesla.1 Dr. Tesla first began to use this term in the mid 1890's in order
to explain his proposed system for the wireless transmission of electrical power. In fact, it was
not until the distinction between the method that Heinrich Hertz was using and the system Dr.
Tesla had designed, that Dr. Tesla was able to receive the endorsement of the renowned
physicist, Lord Kelvin.[l] To this day, however, there exists a confusion amongst researchers,
experimentalists, popular authors and laymen as to the meaning of non-Hertzian waves and
the method Dr. Tesla was promoting for the wireless transmission of power. In this paper, the
terms pertinent to wireless transmission of power will be explained and the methods being
used by present researchers in a recreation of the Tesla's 1899 Colorado Springs experiments
will be defined.
Early Theories of Electromagnetic Propagation
In pre-World War I physics, scientists postulated a number of theories to explain the
propagation of electromagnetic energy through the ether. There were three popular theories
present in the literature of the late 1800's and early 1900's. They were:
1. Transmission through or along the Earth,
2. Propagation as a result of terrestrial resonances,
3. Coupling to the ionosphere using propagation through electrified gases.
We shall concern our examination at this time to the latter two theories as they were both
used by Dr. Tesla at various times to explain his system of wireless transmission of power. It
should be noted, however, that the first theory was supported by Fritz Lowenstein, the first
vice-president of the Institute of Radio Engineers, a man who had the enviable experience of
assisting Dr. Tesla during the Colorado Springs experiments of 1899. Lowenstein presented
what came to be known as the "gliding wave" theory of electromagnetic radiation and
propagation during a lecture before the IRE in 1915. (Fig. 1)
Dr. Tesla delivered lectures to the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia, in February, 1983,
and to the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis, in March, 1983, concerning
electromagnetic wave propagation. The theory presented in those lectures proposed that the
Earth could be considered as a conducting sphere and that it could support a large electrical
1
An honorary doctorate degree, was awarded Nikola Tesla in June, 1894 from Columbia College
in the City of New York (Source: Columbia University Archives) - Ed. note.
165
charge. Dr. Tesla proposed to disturb the charge distribution on the surface of the Earth and
record the period of the resulting oscillations as the charge returned to i t s state of equilibrium.
The problem of a single charged sphere had been analyzed at that time by J. J. Thompson and
A.G. Webster in a treatise entitled "The Spherical Oscillator." This was the beginning of an
examination of what we may call the science of terrestrial resonances, culminating in the
1950's and 60's with the engineering of VLF radio systems and the research and discoveries of
W.O. Schumann and J.R. Waite.
Sketch used by Fritz Lowenstein in his 1915 IRE lecture to explain
the mechanism of radiation and propagation for radio waves. "...Q
[is] the charge in the antenna and... q the electric charge of each
half wave length gliding along the earth..." Even Zenneck was
prepared to accept Lowenstein's explanation. Lowenstein
believed that charge q was detached from the antenna and floated
off along the ground as a "gliding wave."s
— Tesla Primer and Handbook, Chapter 2.
The second method of energy propagation proposed by Dr. Tesla was that of the
propagation of electrical energy through electrified gases. Dr. Tesla experimented with the use
of high frequency RF currents to examine the properties of gases over a wide range of
pressures. It was determined by Dr. Tesla that air under a partial vacuum could conduct high
frequency electrical currents as well or better than copper wires. If a transmitter could be
elevated to a level where the air pressure was on the order of 75 to 130 millimeters in pressure
and an excitation of megavolts was applied, it was theorized that; "...the air will serve as a
conductor for the current produced, and the latter will be transmitted through the air with, it
may be, even less resistance than through an ordinary copper wire". (Fig. 2)
166
Resonating Planet Earth
Dr. James T. Corum and Kenneth L. Corum, in Chapter 2 of their book, A Tesla Primer,
point out a number of statements made by Dr. Tesla which indicate that he was losing
resonator fields and transmission line modes.
1. When he speaks of tuning his apparatus until Hertzian radiations have been eliminated,
he is referring to using ELF vibrations: "...the Hertzian effect has gradually been reduced
through the lowering of frequency." [3]
2. "...the energy received does not diminish with the square of the distance, as it should,
since the Hertzian radiation propagates in a hemisphere."[3]
3. He apparently detected resonator or standing wave modes: "...my discovery of the
wonderful law governing the movement of electricity through the globe...the projection of the
167
wavelengths (measured along the surface) on the earth's diameter or axis of symmetry...are all
equal."[3]
4. "We are living on a conducting globe surrounded by a thin layer of insulating air, above
which is a rarefied and conducting atmosphere...The Hertz waves represent energy which is
radiated and unrecoverable. The current energy, on the other hand, is preserved and can be
recovered, theoretically at least, in its entirety. "[4]
As Dr. Corum points out, "The last sentence seems to indicate that Tesla's Colorado
Springs experiments could be properly interpreted as characteristic of a wave-guide probe in a
cavity resonator. "[5] This was in fact what led Dr. Tesla to report a measurement which to this
day is not understood and has led many to erroneously assume that he was dealing with faster
than light velocities.
168
The controversial Measurement
The mathematical models and experimental data used by Schumann and Waite to
describe ELF transmission and propagation are complex and beyond the scope of this paper.
Dr. James F. Corum, Kenneth L. Corum and Dr. A-Hamid Aidinejad have, however, in a
series of papers presented at the 1984 Tesla Centennial Symposium and the 1986 International
Tesla Symposium, applied the experimental values obtained by Dr. Tesla during his Colorado
Springs experiments to the models and equations used by Schumann and Waite. The results of
this exercise have proved that the Earth and the surrounding atmosphere can be used as a
cavity resonator for the wireless transmission of electrical power. (Fig. 3)
Dr. Tesla reported that 0.08484 seconds was the time that a pulse emitted from his
laboratory took to propagate to the opposite side of the planet and to return. From this
statement many have assumed that his transmissions exceeded the speed of light and many
esoteric and fallacious theories and publications have been generated. As Corum and
Aidinejad point out, in their 1986 paper, "The Transient Propagation of ELF Pulses in the
Earth Ionosphere Cavity", this measurement represents the coherence time of the Earth cavity
resonator system. This is also known to students of radar systems as a determination of the
range dependent parameter. The accompanying diagrams from Corum's and Aidinejad's paper
graphically illustrate the point. (Fig. 4 & Fig. 5)
169
170
We now turn to a description of the methods to be used to build, as Dr. Tesla did in
1899, a cavity resonator for the wireless transmission of electrical power.
PROJECT TESLA
The Wireless Transmission of Electrical Energy Using Schumann Resonance
It has been proven that electrical energy can be propagated around the world between the
surface the Earth and the ionosphere at extreme low frequencies in what is known as the
Schumann Cavity. The Schumann cavity surrounds the Earth between ground level and
extends upward to a maximum 80 kilometers. Experiments to date have shown that
electromagnetic waves of extreme low frequencies in the range of 8 Hz, the fundamental
Schumann Resonance frequency, propagate with little attenuation around the planet within the
Schumann Cavity. Knowing that a resonant cavity can be excited and that power can be
delivered to that cavity similar to the methods used in microwave ovens for home use, it
should be possible to resonate and deliver power via the Schumann Cavity to any point on
Earth. This will result in practical wireless transmission of electrical power.
Background
Although it was not until 1954-1959 when experimental measurements were made of the
frequency that is propagated in the resonant cavity surrounding the Earth, recent analysis
shows that it was Nikola Tesla who, in 1899, first noticed the existence of stationary waves in
the Schumann cavity. Tesla's experimental measurements of the wave length and frequency
involved closely match Schumann's theoretical calculations. Some of these observations were
made in 1899 while Tesla was monitoring the electromagnetic radiations due to lightning
discharges in a thunderstorm which passed over his Colorado Springs laboratory and then
moved more than 200 miles eastward across the plains. In his Colorado Springs Notes, Tesla
noted that these stationary waves "... can be produced with an oscillator," and added in
parenthesis, "This is of immense importance. "[6] The importance of his observations is due to
the support they lend to the prime objective of the Colorado Springs laboratory. The intent of
the experiments and the laboratory Tesla had constructed was to prove that wireless
transmission
of
electrical
power
was
possible.
Schumann Resonance is analogous to pushing a pendulum. The intent of Project Tesla is
to create pulses or electrical disturbances that would travel in all directions around the Earth
in
the thin membrane of non- conductive air between the ground and the ionosphere. The pulses
or waves would follow the surface of the Earth in all directions expanding outward to the
maximum circumference of the Earth and contracting inward until meeting at a point opposite
to that of the transmitter. This point is called the anti-pode. The traveling waves would be
reflected back from the anti-pode to the transmitter to be reinforced and sent out again.
At the time of his measurements Tesla was experimenting with and researching methods
for "...power transmission and transmission of intelligible messages to any point on the
globe." Although Tesla was not able to commercially market a system to transmit power
around the globe, modem scientific theory and mathematical calculations support his
contention that the wireless propagation of electrical power is possible and a feasible
alternative to the extensive and costly grid of electrical transmission lines used today for
electrical power distribution.
171
The Need for a Wireless System of Energy Transmission
A great concern has been voiced in recent years over the extensive use of energy, the
limited supply of resources, and the pollution of the environment from the use of present
energy conversion systems. Electrical power accounts for much of the energy consumed
Much of this power is wasted during transmission from power plant generators to the
consumer. The resistance of the wire used in the electrical grid distribution system causes a
loss of 26-30% of the energy generated. This loss implies that our present system of electrical
distribution is only 70-74% efficient (true only in the 1980's; today it is much worse. - Ed.
note). A system of power distribution with little or no loss would conserve energy. It would
reduce pollution and expenses resulting from the need to generate power to overcome and
compensate for losses in the present grid system.
The proposed project would demonstrate a method of energy distribution calculated to
be 90-94% efficient. An electrical distribution system, based on this method would eliminate
the need for an inefficient, costly, and capital intensive grid of cables, towers, and substations.
The system would reduce the cost of electrical energy used by the consumer and rid the
landscape of wires, cables, and transmission towers.
There are areas of the world where the need for electrical power exists, yet there is no
method for delivering power. Africa is in need of power to run pumps to tap into the vast
resources of water under the Sahara Desert. Rural areas, such as those in China, require the
172
electrical power neccssury to bring them into the 20th century and to equal standing with
western nations. As first proposed by Buckminster Fuller, wireless transmission of power
would enable world wide distribution of off peak demand capacity. This concept is based on
the fact that some nations, especially the United States, have the capacity to generate much
more power than is needed. This situation is accentuated at night. The greatest amount of
power used, the peak demand, is during the day. The extra power available during the night
could be sold to the side of the planet where it is day time. Considering the huge capacity of
power plants in the United States, this system would provide a saleable product which could
do much to aid our balance of payments.
MARKET ANALYSIS
Of the 56 billion dollars spent for research by the the U.S government in 1987, 64% was
for military purposes, only 8% was spent on energy related research. More efficient energy
distribution systems and sources are needed by both developed and under developed nations.
In regards to Project Tesla, the market for wireless power transmission systems is enormous.
It has the potential to become a multi-billion dollar per year market.
Market Size
The increasing demand for electrical energy in industrial nations is well documented. If
we include the demand of third world nations, pushed by their increasing rate of growth, we
could expect an even faster rise in the demand for electrical power in the near future. In 1971,
nine industrialized nations, (with 25 percent of the world's population), used 690 million
kilowatts, 76 percent of all power generated. The rest of the world used only 218 million
kilowatts. By comparison, China generated only 17 million kilowatts and India generated only
15 million kilowatts (less than two percent each) [7]
If a conservative assumption was made that the three-quarters of the world which is only
using one-quarter of the current power production were to eventually consume as much as the
first quarter, then an additional 908 million kilowatts will be needed. The demand for
electrical power will continue to increase with the industrialization of the world.
Market Projections
The Energy Information Agency (EIA), based in Washington, D.C., reported the 1985
net generation of electric power to be 2,489 billion kilowatt hours. At a conservative sale price
of $.04 per kilowatt hour that result in a yearly income of 100 billion dollars. The EIA also
reported that the 1985 capacity according to generator name plates to be 656,118 million
watts. This would result in a yearly output of 5,740 billion kilowatt hours at 100% utilization.
What this means is that we use only about 40% of the power we can generate (an excess
capability of 3,251 billion kilowatt hours). Allowing for down time and maintenance and the
fact that the night time off peak load is available, it is possible that half of the excess power
generation capability could be utilized. If 1,625 billion kilowatt hours were sold yearly at
$.06/kilowatt, income would total 9.7 billion dollars.
Project Tesla: Objectives
The objectives of Project Tesla are divided into three areas of investigation:
1. Demonstration that the Schumann Cavity can be resonated with an
173
open air, vertical dipole antenna;
2. Measurement of power insertion losses.
3. Measurement of power retrieval losses, locally and at a distance.
Methods
A full size, 51 foot diameter, air core, radio frequency resonating coil and a unique 130
foot tower, insulated 30 feet above ground, have been constructed and are operational at an
elevation of approximately 11,000 feet. This system was originally built by Robert Golka in
1973-1974 and used until 1982 by the United States Air Force at Wendover AFB in
Wendover, Utah. The USAF used the coil for simulating natural lightning for testing and
hardening fighter aircraft. The system has a capacity of over 600 kilowatts. The coil, which is
the largest part of the system, has already been built, tested, and is operational. A location at a
high altitude is initially advantageous for reducing atmospheric losses which work against an
efficient coupling to the Schumann Cavity. The high frequency, high voltage output of the coil
will be half wave rectified using a uniquely designed single electrode X-ray tube. The X-ray
tube will be used to charge a 130 ft. tall, vertical tower which will function to provide a
vertical current moment. The mast is topped by a metal sphere 30 inches in diameter. X-rays
emitted from the tube will ionize the atmosphere between the Tesla coil and the tower. This
will result in a low resistance path causing all discharges to flow from the coil to the tower. A
circulating current of 1,000 amperes in the system will create an ionization and corona
causing a large virtual electrical capacitance in the medium surrounding the sphere. The total
charge around the tower will be in the range of between 200-600 coulombs. Discharging the
tower 7-8 times per second through a fixed or rotary spark gap will create electrical
disturbances, which will resonantly excite the Schumann Cavity, and propagate around the
entire Earth.
The propagated wave front will be reflected from the antipode back to the transmitter
site. The reflected wave will be reinforced and again radiated when it returns to the
transmitter. As a result, an oscillation will be established and maintained in the Schumann
Cavity. The loss of power in the cavity has been estimated to be about 6% per round trip. If
the same amount of power is delivered to the cavity on each cycle of oscillation of the
transmitter, there will be a net energy gain which will result in a net voltage, or amplitude
increase. This will result in reactive energy storage in the cavity. As long as energy is
delivered to the cavity, the process will continue until the energy is removed by heating,
lightning discharges, or as is proposed by this project, loading by tuned circuits at distant
locations for power distribution.
The resonating cavity field will be detected by stations both in the United States and
overseas. These will be staffed by engineers and scientists who have agreed to participate in
the experiment. Measurement of power insertion and retrieval losses will be made at the
transmitter site and at distant receiving locations. Equipment constructed especially for
measurement of low frequency electromagnetic waves will be employed to measure the
effectiveness of using the Schumann Cavity as a means of electrical power distribution.
The detection equipment used by project personnel will consist of a pick up coil and
industry standard low noise, high gain operational amplifiers and active band pass filters. In
addition to project detection there will be a record of the experiment recorded by a network of
monitoring stations that have been set up specifically to monitor electromagnetic activity in
the Schumann Cavity.
Evaluation Procedure
174
The project will be evaluated by an analysis of the data provided by local and distant
measurement stations. The output of the transmitter will produce a 7-8 Hz sine wave as a
result of the discharges from the antenna. The recordings made by distant stations will be
time
synchronized to ensure that the data received is a result of the operation of the transmitter.
Power insertion and retrieval losses will be analyzed after the measurements taken
during the transmission are recorded. Attenuation, field strength, and cavity Q will be
calculated using the equations presented in Dr. Corum's papers. These papers are noted in the
references. If recorded results indicate power can be efficiently coupled into or transmitted in
the Schumann Cavity, a second phase of research involving power reception will be initiated.
Environmental Considerations
The extreme low frequencies (ELF), present in the environment have several origins.
The time varying magnetic fields produced as a result of solar and lunar influences on
ionospheric currents are on the order of 30 nanoteslas (nT).2 The largest time varying fields
are those generated by solar activity and thunderstorms. These magnetic fields reach a
m a x i m u m of 0.5 microteslas (uT) The magnetic fields produced as a result of lightning
discharges in the Schumann Cavity peak at 7, 14, 20 and 26 Hz.
The magnetic flux densities associated with these resonant frequencies vary from 0.25 to
3.6 picoteslas per root hertz (pT/Hz1/2). Exposure to man made sources of ELF can be up to 1
billion (1000 million or 1 x 109) times stronger than that of naturally occurring fields.
Household appliances operated at 60 Hz can produce fields as high as 2.5 milliTesla (mT).
The field under a 765 kV, 60 Hz power line carrying 1 amp per phase is 15 uT. ELF antennae
systems that are used for submarine communication produce fields of 20 uT. Video display
Terminals produce fields of 2 uT, 1,000,000 times the strength of the Schumann Resonance
frequencies [9].
Project Tesla will use a 150 kW generator to excite the Schumann cavity. Calculations
predict that the field strength due to this excitation at 7.8 Hz will be on the order of 46
picoteslas.
Future Objectives
The successful resonating of the Schumann Cavity and wireless transmission of power
on a small scale resulting in proof of principle will require a second phase of engineering, the
design of receiving stations. On completion of the second phase, the third and fourth phases of
the project involving further tests and improvements and a large scale demonstration project
will be pursued to prove commercial feasibility. Total cost from proof of principle to
commercial prototype is expected to total $3 million.
The unit of magnetic induction, formerly "Webers per meter squared" is now a "Tesla." It equals
10,000 gauss, which is a commonly used, smaller unit for magnets and "gaussmeters." - Ed. note
175
176
REFERENCES
1. Tesla Said, Compiled by John T. Ratzlaff, Tesla Book Company, Millbrae, CA, 1984.
2. Dr. Nikola Tesla: Selected Patent Wrappers, compiled by John T. Ratzlaff, Tesla Book
Company, 1980, Vol. I, Pg. 128.
3. "The Disturbing Influence of Solar Radiation on the Wireless Transmission of Energy",
by
Nikola
Tesla,
Electrical
Review,
July
6,
1912,
PP.
34,
35.
4. "The Effect of Static on Wireless Transmission", by Nikola Tesla,
Electrical Experimenter, January 1919, PP. 627,658.
5. Tesla Primer and Handbook, Dr. James T. Corum and Kenneth L. Corum, unpublished.
Corum
Associates,
8551
ST
Rt
534,
Windsor,
Ohio
44099
6. Colorado Springs Notes, 1899 - 1900, Nikola Tesla, Nikola Tesla
Museum,
Beograd,
Yugoslavia,
1978,
Pg.
62.
7. Van Nostrands Scientific Encylopedia, Fith Edition, Pg. 899.
8. "PC Monitors Lightning Worldwide", Davis D. Sentman, Computers in Science,
Premiere Issue, 1987.
9. "Artificially Stimulated Resonance of the Earth's Schumann Cavity Waveguide", Toby
Grotz, Proceedings of the Third International New Energy Technology
Symposium/Exhibition, June 25th-28th, 1988, Hull, Quebec, Planetary Association for Clean
Energy, 191 Promenade du Portage/600, Hull, Quebec J8X 2K6 Canada
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Grotz, is an electrical engineer and has 15 years experience in the field of
geophysics, aerospace and industrial research and design. While working for the Geophysical
Services Division of Texas Instruments and at the University of Texas at Dallas, Mr. Grotz
was introduced to and worked with the geophysical concepts which are of importance to the
proposed project. As a Senior Engineer at Martin Marietta, Mr. Grotz designed and supervised
the construction of industrial process control systems and designed and built devices and
equipment for use in research and development and for testing space flight hardware. Mr.
Grotz, organized and chaired the 1984 Tesla Centennial Symposium and the 1986 International
Tesla Symposium and was President of the International Tesla Society, a not for profit
coporation formed as a result the first symposium. As Project Manager for Project Tesla, Mr.
Grotz aided in the design and construction of a recreation of the equipment Nikola Tesla used
for wireless transmission of power experiments in 1899 in Colorado Springs. Mr. Grotz
received his B.S.E.E. from the University of Connecticut in 1973. He can be reached at 760
Prairie Ave., Craig, CO 81625, wireless @ rmi.net
177
10 Tesla's Self-Sustaining Electrical
Generator
Oliver Nichelson
Adapted from Proceedings of the Tesla Centennial Symposium, 1984
Abstract
Before the discovery of the electron, the principle theory used to describe the electrical
activity was that of the ether. At the turn of this century, the ether theory in use by science was
a remnant of the concept common in western thought for several centuries. This situation
favored the rise of atomic theory. This change in scientific paradigm requires a translation
from 19th century terminology into 20th century language in order to understand Tesla's later
research. Of particular interest is his magnifying transformer which claimed to produce
resistanceless current.
The Historical Ether
Though science aims at giving accurate descriptions of the workings of nature, these
descriptions change from historical period to historical period. In the same way that an object
in one European country is called by a different name in an adjoining European country, so do
the descriptions of nature change during different periods of man's history.
In the 19th century western science the broadest view of the physical world was that all
objects were somehow each connected to one another through pre-material ether. Solid bodies
were believed to be made from condensation of this ether. In this worldview, atoms and
electrons did not exist as scientific realities.
Toward the end of the last century the atomic picture of the world emerged in steps.
Solid bodies were explained by minute vortices in the ether - small whirlpools - forming
lumps of matter. Lord Kelvin, the virtual spokesman of Victorian science, developed an ether
vortex model of the electron in an effort to explain some of the properties of electricity. The
electron as a discrete particle did not become a fact of science until Thompson discovered it in
1897.
The view of nature as a single entity formed out of the ether changed to the modem one
of matter being made of collections of individual particles in 1905 [1]. In that year, Einstein
presented his paper on Brownian motion explaining the movement of pollen particles on the
surface of water in terms of discrete units of matter. From then until today, the atomic view
has prevailed.
This difference between the 19th century description of nature and our presented
description makes it difficult to have a complete picture of the work of the early electrical
researchers. Today, Faraday, Maxwell and Tesla are recognized as valued contributors of the
understanding of electricity, but their work was carried out before the electron- the
fundamental carrier of electrical charge - was discovered. All of these scientist held a belief in
an physical ether. Though Faraday's laws of induction are still accepted, and Maxwell's
equations from electromagnetism are still used routinely, and Tesla's generators are still
powering our lights, the 19th century physics that they learned and out of which their physics
came, has been judged scientifically wrong.
179
The curious situation in which Faraday, Maxwell and Tesla can be seen be both right in
their results but wrong in their beliefs about physics comes from an inability to translate the
concepts of their historical periods into the language of our period. This lack of chronological
translation, in contract to the spatial translation between European languages, is also an
obstacle to understanding the physics of self-sustaining electrical ("free energy") generators
based on the 19th century views.
In the last half of the 19th century, when researchers had to deal with the ether in
practical engineering terms in order to guild their electrical devices, the concept of the ether
then, several centuries old, was a watered down theory. At that time, the ether was considered
something like a thin gas that could be found everywhere. However, that was not a historically
correct view of the ether.
The ether had been pictured traditionally as a non-material substance capable of
condensing into ponderable matter. Gas, no matter how thin, is still ponderable matter; and
because of that, could not qualify as the ether.
To find out what was meant historically by the concept of ether, an early writer on the
subject can be cited. Robert Fludd, in 1659 described the "Ethericall...influences" as "far
subtler condition than is the vehicle of visible light... so thin, so mobile, so penetrating, so
lively, that they are able, and also do continually penetrate, and that without manifest
obstacles or resistance, even unto the center or inward bosom of the earth where they generate
metals of sundry kinds."[2]
Fludd quotes an even older source on the nature of ether, the writings of Plotinus (3rd
Century AD) where the ether is described as being so fine "that it doth penetrate all bodies
and... it maketh them not a jot bigger for all that because this inward spirit doth nourish and
preserve all bodies." [3]
From these older descriptions of the ether, the following attributes can be seen missing
from the late 19th century concept. First, the ether was held to be truly non-material - it does
not make bodies "a jot bigger". If the ether were a gas, its addition to anything would be
measurable. Second, the ether is a substance less material than "the vehicle of visible light",
that is, something less than what today is known as a photon. Third, the ether was credited
with generating metals and nourishing all bodies, clearly a distinct property not belonging to
gases.
Whether or not the reality of the ether as put forth by these authors is accepted, it is
historical fact that the tether Michelson and Moraly did not find in their experiments and that
the modern atomists ridiculed so strongly when they came to scientific power in the early 20th
century was never claimed to exist by people who first used the term. Taking a longer view of
science, modem theorists fought a battle against an issue that never existed.
If, on the other hand, the ether is looked at in the earlier description of its properties,
something can be learned about the operation of a least one type of self sustaining electrical
generator. To do this, the ether concept has to be translated into an artifact of contemporary
science.
The Modern Ether
The properties of having less mass than a massless photon, being able to interpenetrate
a body but not add to it, and generating material bodies are encompassed in the modern view
of the quantum wave nature of matter. In quantum theory, an object can be viewed as either
made of particles or waves. It is not an idea everyone is comfortable with even now but one
that is widely accepted and known to be verifiable by experiment. Transistors, tunnel diodes
180
and even digital watches are a few of the real world objccts operating on physical principles
that are explained best by the quantum wave nature of matter.
If an object can be both a quanum wave and a particle, then it its wave state, it can be
said to interpenetrate an object without making it "a jot bigger". Also, being a wave
equivalent to a particle, the wave would not have the mass of a particle. It has amplitude
instead. The quantum wave is also responsible for the generation of solid bodies. Present
theory has it that a particle exists in its quantum wave state until a measurement is made,
when the wave is then said, to collapse to form an object. The collapse of the quantum wave
defines the state of the object, that is, it generates the particle.
The quantum wave state of nature very much resembles the 17th century picture of the
ether.
With this conceptual parallel in mind, it is possible to understand better the work of
Nikola Tesla, who held the ether theory as a scientific concept, who, also no the basis of this
theory, build working electrical machines, and who is associated with the idea of an electrical
generator which could maintain a current without an external prime mover.
Schooled during the 1860's, Nikola Tesla's understanding of physics was pre-atomic.
In his biographical articles Tesla does not comment on the theoretical aspects of his education,
but in his technical writings, he uses the term "the ether" in a positive sense and only in his
later writings are found grudging references to atomic particles and electrons.
Tesla's Magnifying Transformer
Tesla's most famous device was what he called a Magnifying Transformer, the
principal tests of which were carried out in Colorado Springs during 1899. The device is
described in his U.S. Patent as an "Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy" [4] and
claims some unusual characteristics among which were the propagation of waves faster than
the speed of light, the transmission of signals, not around the earth, but through the earth, and
doing this by eliminating as much as possible electromagnetic waves - the only electrically
related waves known today capable of transmitting signals.
Tesla did this using a coil with 10,000 - 11,000 feet of cable [5], with what he claimed
so be little or no resistance. This last fact, giving rise to the belief that in addition to tits other
unusual characteristics, the device had the property of maintaining its current for a measurable
period of time after disconnection from an outside power source.
Taking these ideas together — that the ether is equivalent to quantum wave energy, that
Tesla held a belief in a physical ether, and that Tesla build a device capable of maintaining an
electrical current without an external prime mover, a conclusion that can be reached, is that
the quantum wave theory can be used to understand the dynamics of Tesla's magnifying
transformer. This follows from the work of Dr. Andrija Puharich who, in a 1976 paper, put
forth the idea that the magnifying transformer could not be explained by the laws of classical
electrodynamics, but, rather in terms of high energy particle transformations [6].
The wave theory of matter gained its present popularity in 1923 through the efforts of
de Broglie. When experiments showed that light could be considered both a particle and a
wave he reasoned that an electron, clearly a particle, could behave like a wave. He deduced
the wavelength of the electron from the equation E=hf which equates the energy of a particle
to the product of Planck's constant times the frequency. (Lambda works out to be 2.4 x 10-12
meters, which is the classical wavelength for the electron.)
In analyzing the Tesla magnifying transformer, this mathematical relationship can be used
to determine the quantum energy of a wave in the transformer's operating frequency (here we
use the pulse repetition rate of 7.5 Hz, following Corum [10] instead of the author's originally
181
suggested kilohertz. oscillation frequency - Ed. note) and putting that value into the equation
gives:
which would be the radiated energy per accelerated charge carrier (electron) in the conducor.
If the magnifying transmitter were operating at a current I = 100 amperes, the total
charge can be found. Current is charge per time (I = q / t) and by definition, 1 Ampere = 1
Coulomb / second. This relationship can be used in turn to determine the number of charge
carriers per second in the conductor for a 100 A current:
The total number of charge carriers times the emitted energy per charge carrier would
equal the quantum energy of the wave at a given frequency (7.5 Hz in this case):
If the highest reported current that Tesla used, 1000 amperes, is put into the calculation,
the energy range would be 3.1 x 10"12 J/s to 31 x l0-12J/s.
Converting to a more commonly used system of measures, the energy of a quantum
wave at 7.5 Hz would be:
If the highest current of 1000 amperes is put into the calculation, the energy of a
quantum wave would be 190 Mev.1
In order to generate a wave of this energy, an electron would have to undergo a
potential difference in the range of 19 to 190 million volts.
Tesla's magnifying transformer was reported to operate in the range of tens of millions
of volts. At 20 million volts there would be more than sufficient electrical force to create a
1
Compare to Corum [10] who calculate about 225 coulombs in a volume of 10,000 cubic meters of
glow discharge. Using 2.5 eV per molecule of air, the amount of power Tesla used for a pulse
repetition rate of 7.5 Hz is found to be only 6.5 hp, consistent with what Tesla reported. For reasons
explained in the article, the Corums find that Tesla generated l0 MeV electrons at 1000 amperes.
182
bacuum wave for the amount of charge in motion at 7.5Hz. At 200 million volts there would
be enough force to produce such a wave for a current of 1000 amperes at that frequency.
The generation of a quantum wave by the magnifying transformer goes a long way in
explaining some of the properties Tesla claimed for the device. For one, he said that
electromagnetic waves were reduced to a minimum and, indeed, it would seem hard to
propagate any e.m. radiation with the blunt topped tower used in his transmission
experiments. If, however, the waves that were being emitted were quantum waves, or waves
of the ether, his claims for radiating energy from one point to another without the use of
electromagnetism becomes clear.
Also, Tesla's statement that electromagnetic radiations were similar to the waves
transmitted by an ordinary whistle through the air [7] makes sense. According to his view,
e.m. waves would be nothing but undulations in the atmospheric gases, while his
transmissions were taking place in a wholly different medium, that of the ether.
Tesla's claim for instantaneous transmission of energy has a basis in modern theory
too, for a quantum wave is non-local in nature. That is, its effect is not limited to
one
particular point, but, through a physical process still not completely agreed upon, the
effect
can be measured at great distances from the point of origin at the moment of origin.
The Superconducting State
As to maintaining a current in the transformer without an external power source, the
only condition known today for achieving this, is the state of superconduction, which seemed
to be ruled out in the case of Tesla's device which operated far above the almost zero
temperatures needed for superconduction. However, what is understood as the
superconducting state in today's science is in fact a description of the conductor. If a material
has a certain type of atomic configuration and is cooled to a certain temperature, a
superconducting condition exists in which a perpetual current can be maintained. The
superconducting state, though, can exist without there being a current in the conductor. The
state is a characteristic of the conductor.
Tesla may have discovered that superconductivity can be a property not of the
conductor but of the current itself.
To examine how this might be the case, a specific model of electrical activity will be
used. Instead of picturing an electric current composed of billiard ball particles of of little
satellites of nuclear suns, or as an electron gas, or as electron plasma, it can be imagined as an
electron liquid. At this point the make up of the liquid is not as important as is its fluid nature
and that the fluid is electrical.
The model of a liquid is useful because it provides an easy example of how a substance
can remain the same and yet become radically different under certain conditions. With water,
when heat is removed from it, a phase change takes place which transforms it into solid ice.
When thermal energy is added to water, it undergoes a different phase change and becomes a
gas. The substance remains the same, but it exists in three difference states.
One of the extreme states that a fluid can achieve is superfluidity during which a liquid
will move up the walls of its container. This, of course, is a property of the liquid, not of the
container.
Perhaps the same phase change phenomenon takes place in the electron liquid. Under
certain conditions, high voltage and or high current, the electron liquid will remain the same
substance but will take on radically different properties, similar to the state of superfluidity.
This condition would be a state change in the current, not in whatever material is serving as
the conductor.
183
A state of superfluidity in an electron liquid would explain how Tesla was able to
sent
a current through the earth. When in its commonly known state a current does not travel far
through the earth's resistance, but if the current has undergone the proper phase change, it
could easily travel with no resistance.
Likewise, a phase changed current would travel through a generator coil with no
resistance. Having undergone the change it would become a super-current in a nonsuperconducting conductor. Such a condition would allow a generator to maintain a current
without an external power source.
This particular solution, which of course has to be tested, of Tesla's self-sustaining
generators, is not an explanation of all the other similar devices such as the Figuera, Hubbard
and Herdershot devices [8]. There are probably as many engineering solutions to such
generators as there are inventors of them.
One characteristic all the other devices have in common in contrast to Tesla's
magnifying transformer, is that they did not require the high voltage and currents Tesla used.
They do not, though, represent an engineering advancement over Tesla's engineering
methods.
Tesla put his main efforts into high energy devices as a matter of mere practicality in
marketing a product. A year after his Colorado Springs experiments, he wrote in his Century
magazine article, 1900, that he had spent a great deal of time on a smaller generator but
realized that negative market pressures would not allow such a machine to see the commercial
light of day [9]. And he was right; it is not possible yet to by a Hubbard or a Hendershot
generator to light our homes.
Tesla believed he had a greater chance for introducing a new electrical technology if it
made use of the generators then being sold, but which used their output in novel ways — which
is why he concentrated on the wireless power transmission project, though even that idea
proved too much for his time.
A careful study of his later writings shows that many of his more advanced concepts
were based on earlier work with lower voltage versions of generators capable of maintaining a
super-current. These designs appear to be based on intricate configurations of coil geometries.
The peak of this line of research might have been just before the fire of his New York City
laboratory in which, many of his prototypes and papers were lost. The task of uncovering the
precise nature of these designs becomes very complex, because after the fire, Tesla spoke of
his more advanced work only obliquely and never in detail.
Recovering these earlier designs would bring about the second stage of electrical
technology - one that Nikola Tesla started, here, a century ago.
References
1. There have been several such paradigm changes in western ideas about nature. Theories
alternate between a one substance universe out of which everything is made and a many
substance universe in which the constituent particles are separated by a vacuum.
2. Robert Fludd, Mosaical Philosophy. London, Humphrey Moseley, 1659, p. 221.
3. Fludd, p. 221
4. U.S. Patent #1,119,732 of December 1, 1914; application filed January 18,1902.
184
5. Nikola Tesla, Colorado Springs Notes, 1899-1900. Beograd: Nolit. 1978, p.43.
6. Andrija Puharich, "The Physics of the Tesla Magnifying Transmitter and the
Transmission of Electrical Power without Wires". Planetary Association of Clean
Energy,
Ottawa, Ontario, 1976).
7. Nikola Tesla, quoted in the NY Herald Tribune, Sept 22, 1929, pg. 21.
8. C. Bird and O. Nichelson, "Nikola Tesla, Great Scientist, Forgotten Genius", New Age,
Feb. 1977. p. 41.
9. Nikola Tesla, "On the Problems of Increasing Human Energy", in Nikola Tesla,
Lectures, Patents, Articles, Biograd, Nikola Tesla Museum, 1956, p. A-143. (Also in
Century,
June, 1900-Ed. note)
10. Coram, James & Kenneth, "Critical Speculations Concerning Tesla's Invention and
Applications of Single Electrode X-Ray Directed Discharges for Power Processing, Terrestrial
Resonances and Particle Beam Weapons," Proc. Inter. Tesla Symposium, 1986, p.7-21
Oliver Nichelson can be reached at 670 W 980 N, Provo, UT 84604
185
187
188
189
2. Force-free fields. Consider the Lust and Schlueter expression for
force-free fields with cylindrical symmetry (i.e. axial plus azimuthal
symmetry).
a) For the constant twist field, that we covered in class, derive an
expression for alpha, the ratio between current and magnetic field
vector.
b) The magnetic field vector is tangent to the magnetic field line at
any point. Hence the tangent vector satisfies
which is the field line equation. From the solution for a constant
twist field derive the number of turns in the fieldlines on an axial
segment of length L.
c)Now assume alpha is constant and use that to simplify the Lust and
Schluter differential equation to derive Bessel's equation. Find and
sketch the solutions for B_z and B_phi.
Robert W. Bass is a physicist working for an aerospace firm and can be reached at 45960
Indian Way #612, Lexington Park, MD 20653, donquixote@radix.net
191
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
Ed note: For those interested in the specific equations in this article that may not
be legible, visit www.IntegrityResearchInstitute.org or email: iri@erols.com
217
13 Tesla's ELF Oscillator for Wireless
Transmission
James Corum,Ph. D.
Kenneth L. Corum
Reprinted from Tesla: A Journal of Modem Science, 1997
Introduction
For a scientist, Tesla was a prolific but abstruse and poetic writer. He left behind a
considerable volume of technical and enigmatic descriptive writings, lectures, patents, articles
and newspaper interviews. Additionally, his Colorado Springs diary and his Long Island notes
provide a showcase through with the wealth of his creative mind may be viewed from
our
present technological perspective. Such remarkable situations rarely present themselves with
such prolific documentation to future generations. In reading the Colorado Springs and Long
Island notes, one feels as though he has just blown away the dust of the years and opened
diaries of Columbus or Da Vinci. Before him sit the thoughts and experimentations of the
powerful intellect which invented for modern civilization the electrical equivalent of the
wheel—the rotating magnetic field.
It would be an understatement to say that an electrical engineer can certainly empathize
with the excitement described by Carter as he peered through the chink in the wall of an
Egyptian torn and saw before him the treasures of Tutankamen. What we must ascertain,
however, is whether Tesla's words, unlike Tutankamen's trinkets, are of any practical value
to the scientific community today. Certainly they do reflect how he thought and interpreted his
experiments and how his physical concepts led him to make the remarkable statements
published subsequent to his Colorado Springs experiments.
The fact that in addition to his Colorado Springs Diary, we also have the associated
patent wrappers, special articles and later recollections, is of great importance. Any
interpretation or speculation made today about his experiments must not only be internally
consistent with these documents, but must also cement them together. This we take as a first
requirement of speculation.
Additionally, as a second requirement, such conjecture must be made within the bounds
of accepted and verifiable physical principles. Tesla was, apparently, experimenting with
potentials in excess of 12 MV. Not unlike Columbus, he was sailing in uncharted seas. The
possibility of "peculiar physics" notwithstanding, our efforts have been to attempt to discuss
Tesla within the framework of modem electrical theory. Whether the experimental results of
Tesla were, in fact near-field induction coupling, or perhaps Schumannn resonance excitation
(as we believe) or some sort of magnetospheric stimulation, or even some peculiar presently
yet unknown physical phenomenon—the fact remains, a significant portion of his apparatus
was constructed of wire, capacitors, spark gaps, and tuned circuits. It ought to be
comprehensible in its intent and physical operation. That he got high voltage RF from his
circuits is clearly understandable. It follows from a straightforward network analysis. How he
obtained the incredible ELF results which he subsequently claimed, however, is the chasm to
be bridged.1
1
J. Corum also holds patents #4,622,558, #4,751,515 (ELF toroidal antennae) - Ed. note.
219
Issues to be Resolved
Because of his repeated insistence on terrestrial extra low frequency resonances, it does
not seem unreasonable to hypothesize that Tesla's experiments were actually carried out at
this end of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, his indoor Colorado Springs apparatus
clearly operated in the range of 30 KHz to 100 KHz, and the tower described in his diary was
only 145 feet high. [1] With such an electrically short tower threw could be no radiation at
ELF. But, on the other hand, if it was merely a waveguide or cavity resonator probe, one
would expect its radiation resistance to be zero. The radiation resistance of a cavity resonator
probe is zero because the resonator fields are purely relative.
It has been observed the the photographs of the Colorado Springs Laboratory offer not
clue as to how one might generate ELF energy. There is an even more fundamental issue to be
resolved, however. The excitation of Schumann resonances by means of a vertical probe
requires a considerable current moment. The question is, "Even if Tesla successfully
generated ELF voltages how did he ever get significant ELF currents to flow on the vertical
structure?" [ 2] One could not just connect an ELF source onto the base of a 45 meter tower the feedpoint capacitive reactance would be so large that not current would flow. Yet, Tesla
maintained on several occasions that his "antenna" current was well in excess of 1000
amperes! [By the way, there is a similar issure to be resolved for the reception of power. The
Thevenin equivalent of a vertical receiving antenna may have a substantial ELF. However,
the series capacitive reactance of vertical tower at ELF will preclude substantive power
transfer in the sinusoidal steady state].
Lastly, we mention the curious inscription in Tesla's own handwriting along the side of
a now famous photograph of the Colorado Springs Laboratory:
"Experimental Station fully developed. Activity [power delivery] one hundred thousand
horsepower" [3]
How could he possibly deliver 74.6 megawatts? The 60 Hz power mains to the laboratory
were operated at 1 kV, but his Westinghouse transformer was only rated at around 40 kVA.
In the remainder of this article, we wish to speculate on how these issues could be
resolved within the bounds of consistency with the historical documents mentioned above
The reader will have to judge whether we have successfully met the second requirement - that
of conjecture based on acceptable physics
Tesla's Descriptions of His Oscillator
Tesla described his electrical oscillator on many occasions and in many different places.
It is clear that, as early as 1893, he was considering terrestrial responses:
"If ever we can ascertain at what period the earth's change, when disturbed, oscillates... we
shall know a fact possibly of the greatest importance to the welfare of the human race..I
propose to search for the period by means of an electrical oscillator." [4]
In the years between 1893 and 1900, he developed the coupled tuned transformer [or
Tesla Coil], published the results of his extensive experiments with x-rays, contributed to the
conceptual development of cosmic ray, patented a variety of circuit controllers [rotary spark
gaps] and was sought out by members of the scientific and social communities, both of which
he continued to dazzle with his latest electrical discoveries. These were the golden years of his
220
professional career, and they found a focal point in experiments at Colorado Springs. It is
have, where he finally was able to assemble the apparatus which, he maintained to his dying
day, permitted him to ascertain terrestrial natural resonant frequencies.
In 1900, he disclosed that tins apparatus could be operated in a variety of configurations
to perform many different types of desired functions:
"Thus a transformer or induction coil on new principles was evolved, which I have
called 'the electric oscillator'... the essential parts of which are shown in Fig. 6. For certain
purposes a strong inductive effect is required; for others the greatest possible suddenness; for
others again, an exceptionally high rated of vibration or extreme pressure; while for certain
other objects immense electrical movements are necessary... I have produced electrical
movements occurring at the rate of one hundred thousand horsepower..." [5]
By the way, the "essential parts" shown in the photograph referred to appear to be his
Westinghouse transformer, a rotary break, a capacitor bank and a circular fence upon which
the secondary was wound.
Perhaps the most curious of all his descriptions of the terrestrial resonance oscillator was
published in 1919:
"It is a resonant transformer with a secondary in which the parts, charged to a high
potential, are of considerable area and arranged in space along ideal enveloping surfaces of
very large radii of curvature, and at proper distances from one another thereby insuring a
small electric surface density everywhere so that not leak can occur even if the conductor is
bar. It is suitable for any frequency from a few to many thousand of cycles per second, and
can be used in the production of currents of tremendous volume and moderate pressure or of a
smaller amperage and immense electromotive force. The maximum electric tension is merely
dependent upon the curvature of the surfaces on which the charge elements are situated and
the area of the latter.
"Judging from my past experience, as much as 100,000,000 volts are perfectly practicable.
On the other hand, currents of many thousand of amperes may be obtained in the
antenna...the Hertz-wave radiation is an entirely negligible quantity as compared with the
whole energy... an enormous charge is stored in the elevated capacity. Such a circuit may then
be excited with impulses of any kind, even of low frequency and it will yield sinusoidal and
continuous oscillations like those of an alternator...it is a resonant transformer...accurately
proportioned to fit the globe and its electrical constants and properties, by virtue of which
design it becomes highly efficient and effective in wireless transmission of energy". [6]
What we are to make of this? Based upon the available electrical output of his extra coil
and the reports of spark lengths measured 100 meters away from the Colorado Springs
Laboratory, we estimate that the charge stored in the elevated capacity was probably on the
order of 20 millicoulombs. But how was this to be used to excite terrestrial resonances? The
apparatus so furtively described in 1919 is probably a near relative of that for which he sought
protection by a patent application in 1902, and which subsequently issued at the close of 1914.
[7]
Directed Energy Devices
We believe that the evolution of these ideas continued to be a central activity of Tesla's
later years. It is merely our opinion , but we find it difficult to accept the senility hypothesis
221
concerning his motivation to reach for the goals of these final years. It seems probable that the
apparatus which so concerned his thoughts at this time, not only was a successive conceptual
development of his prior oscillators, but any credible knowledge ginned about these later
structures would probably throw light on the operation of the earlier experiment - no matter
how improbable his final research might have been. We believe that Tesla's surprisingly
detailed 1934 analysis of the Van Der Graaft's [then] new machine, published in Scientific
American, lends support to the hypothesis that he was still technically alert and deeply
engaged in high voltage research. [8]. Perhaps we are not being specific enough for the ready
The apparatus which Tesla's final disclosures concerned has come to be known as the "Death
Ray". Whether there be any actual merit to such contraptions, we leave for others to speculate
upon. Our interest in Tesla's thoughts on "directed energy devices" rest upon the proposition
that they might shed light upon his terrestrial resonance oscillator. In 1927, Tesla said:
"More than twenty five years ago my efforts to transmit large amounts of power through
the atmosphere resulted in the invention of a great promise, which has since been callled
'Death Ray'... The underlying idea was to render the air conducting by suitable ionizing
radiations and to convey high tension currents along the path of the rays. Experiments
conducted on a large scale showed that with pressures of many millions of volts virtually
unlimited quantities of energy can be projected to a small distance, as a few hundred feet..."
[9]
From a variety of published references, spanning the years from 1934-1940, we gather
that Tesla envisioned a machine, which required the cooperative action of four separate
entities. Again, our interest is not in the feasibility of such an apparatus, but rather in how he
hgouth such a device was to work and what, if any, light it might shed on his terrestrial
resonance oscillator experiments. The four elements specified by Tesla are as follows:
1. "A Method and an Apparatus for producing rays and manifestations of energy in free air
(eliminating the necessity of the usually required vacuum tubes)."
2. "A Process and an Apparatus for producing very great electrical force (50 MV). This is
necessary to power the first mechanism."
3. "A method of intensifying and amplifying the force developed the by second
mechanism"
4. "A new method for producing a tremendous repelling force."
It is perhaps not unremarkable that these components are quite similar to the
description provided by John G. Trump, when he examined Tesla's estate. He described the
"Death Ray" as:
"An electrostatic method of producing high voltage, capable of very great power... As a
component of this apparatus there is an open end vacuum tube... A beam of high energy
electrons is the... means by which energy is transmitted through natural media" [10]
It should be parenthetically remarked that Tesla explicitly denied that his apparatus was
a "Ray" as indicated below:
"This invention of mine does not contemplate the use of any so called 'Death Ray.' Rays
are not applicable because they cannot produce in requisite quantities and dimmish rapidly in
intensity with distance... My apparatus projects particles.. ."[11]
222
We started out discussing electrical oscillators and now find ourselves confronted
with
"direct energy devices". Perhaps this is not surprising when we observe that Tesla's early xmy researches involved the use of his '"single electrode X-ray tube" attached to the top of a
resonant Tesla coil.
The Single Electrode X-Ray Tube
Between March 11, 1896 and August 11, 1897, Tesla wrote at least 10 articles about his xmy experiments. There is an explanation for the development of a single electrode tube in the
March 11, 1896 issue of Electrical Review. Tesla saw that in order to attain the most
intensive effects, one should use the greatest voltages available.
"Clearly, if we put two electrodes in a bulb, or use on inside and another outside electrode,
we limit the potential... Thus, to secure the result aimed at, one is driven to the acceptance of
a single electrode bulb, the other terminal being as far remote as possible". [ 12]
Tesla later hinted at the manner in which the tube was excited: "...in 1896,1 brought out a
new form of vacuum tube capable of being charged to any desired potential and operated it
with effective pressures of 4,000,000 volts [13]
And in a 1913 newspaper interview, Tesla said:
"As far back as 1897, I disclosed before the New York Academy of Sciences the discovery
that Roentgen, or x-rays projected from certain bulbs have the property of strongly charging
an electrical condenser at a distance. The energy so accumulated readily can be discharged."
[14]
We know today, of course, that x-rays are high energy photons and have neither rest mass
nor charge. The question before us, however, is "How might these single electrode tubes
produce x-rays?"
In a standard x-ray tube of the Coolidge type, a hearted filament provides electrons
which are then accelerated and strike an anode target. If an AC supply is employed, x-ray
emission occurs only during the positive half cycle. However, Tesla's tube had only one
electrode. We hypothesize that the tube's operation probably depended upon the quantum
mechanical phenomenon of High Field Emission. One might suppose that during half of the
RF high voltage cycle field emission could possibly occur into the region of high vacuum
elongated bulb, and on the positive half cycle the cloud of electrons might be swept back into
the "plain polished surface on the front side of a hemispherical aluminum electrode" with an
ensuing emission of hard x-rays. This is only a hypothesis and certainly its acceptability needs
to be closely examined.
There is evidence that, during the course of his New York city experiments, Tesla took
to surrounding these tubes with an insulated shield in order to reduce corona losses. He called
this "static screening". The configuration is quite similar to that discussed in the Colorado
Springs notes on June 6, 1899:
"Arrangements with single terminal tube for production of powerful rays. There being
practically no limit to the power of an oscillator, it is now the problem to work out a tube so
that it can stand any desired pressure... The best results will probably be obtained in the end
by static screening of the vulnerable parts of the tube. This idea was experimented on in a
number of ways... In each case there would be an insulated body of capacity so arranged that
223
streamers cannot manifest themselves. The capacity would be such as to bring about
maximum rise of e.m.f. on the free terminal" [15]
The associated figure shown in the diary entrance indicates a [square!] container with the
comments:
"Metallic Enclosure but insulated so that observers can step inside" [ 15]
Little more can be inferred from the diary about x-ray experiments until November 23,
1899. Finally, on January 2, 1900, Tesla states,
"...my conviction is growing stronger every day that, with apparatus such as the present,
wonderful results must be secured provided only that a tube is constructed capable of taking
up any amount of energy... Many tubes have been worked here from the secondary." [16]
In a later interview, Tesla said concerning the Colorado Springs experiments:
" At the time of those test, I succeeded in producing the most powerful x-rays ever seen. I
could stand at a distance of 100 feet from the x-ray apparatus and see the bones of the hand
clearly with the aid of a fluoroscope screen... I now have apparatus designed whereby this
tremendous energy of hundred of kilowatts can be successfully transformed into x-rays."[ 17]
What he was doing with these x-rays? In light of the comments by Tesla regarding charge
transfer by x-rays, it does not seem unreasonable to hypothesize that a small aperture in the
conducting enclosure would permit the emission of x-rays to the exterior region, causing x-ray
photoionization of the atmosphere near the enclosure, these ions providing a short conducting
discharge path for the charged "insulated body of capacity". It is clear from Reference 13, that
Tesla was observing "coronal discharges" exterior to his single electrode tubes. This process
could clearly be employed to instantaneously lower the disruptive potential of an isolated
spherical capacitor, and to initiate a discharge into the air of to a nearby isolated electrode at a
lower potential than the given sphere. Perhaps it is not surprising that this process has been of
recent interest in x-ray and IJV laser triggered switching of high voltages. The latter being
particularly interesting because capacitances charged into the megovolt range can be triggered
with nano second switching delays and with subnanosecond jitter.
On January 4, 1900, Tesla experimented with a ball on the top of the extra coil, "... very
brilliant and thick sparks passing from the ball to the hood above". Tesla continued that the
discharge was "highly sensitive" to, among other things, "Roentgen rays" [another name for
x-rays]. Is it possible that Tesla was employing x-rays as a switching mechanism to statically
charge his tower? The tower appears to be an "elevated insulated body of capacity". This, we
hypothesize, is the x-ray charging mechanism which Tesla sought to protect in his two U.S.
patents disclosures No. 685,957 and No. 685,958.
The X-Ray Patents
In March of 1901, Tesla filed two patent applications concerning x-ray devices. One was
for a "Method" and one was for an "Apparatus" for the "Utilization of Radiant Energy". They
describe in considerable detail a remarkable technique for switching high voltages and for
charging and discharging and "elevated insulated body of capacitance".
Consider, for example, an isolated sphere. Such a body may be charged to a certain
electrical potential with respect to a zero potential reference, taken as infinitely distant. In
such a system the spherical conductor may be charged to a certain potential before the electric
field intensity gives rise to a force great enough for the surrounding air to break down and
"disruptively" discharge the sphere. Tesla found by experiment that the disruptive potential, in
volts, for a sphere at sea level could be approximately calculated as 7,540,000 R, where R is
224
radius of the sphere in meters. Tesla, in fact, reported that he kept a variety of spheres around
to use both us capacitors and in order to estimate the voltages used in his experiments.
A practical form of high voltage capacitor may be constructed by elevating an insulated
spherical conductor above the surface of the earth. It is an elementary problem in
electromagnetics to calculate the field and capacitance of such a charged system. In this
configuration the "capacitor" effectively has "true ground" as one terminal and the conducting
spherical ball itself forms the second "armature" or terminal of the distributed capacitor. This
form of capacitor may be charged up by bodily conveying charge of one sign to the elevated
sphere. Alternatively, it may be discharged simply by bringing the grounded conductor close
enough to the sphere for arcing to occur.
Bearing this in mind, Tesla's x-ray patents take on a meaningful interpretation:
"It is well known that certain radiations such as...Roentgen rays... possess the property
of... discharging conductors... They ionize or render conducting the atmosphere through
which they are propagated... they may at any rate discharge an electrified conductor... by
carrying off bodily its charge... When rays of the above kind are permitted to fall upon an
insulated conducted body connected to one of the terminals of a condenser... a current flows
into the condenser... an indefinite accumulation of electrical energy in the condenser takes
place. This energy after a suitable time interval, during which the rays are allowed to act, may
manifest itself in a powerful discharge ...taking every possible precaution in insulating the
armatures, so that the instrument may withstand great electrical pressure without leaking and
may leave no perceptible electrification when discharging instantaneously... the above
precautions should b more rigously observed the slower the rate of charging and the smaller
the time interval during which the energy is allowed to accumulate in the condenser... A
simplc way of supplying...electricity is to connect...to an insulated conductor supported at
some height in the atmosphere...I usually connect the second terminal of the condenser to
ground... .in order to utilize... the energy accumulated in the condenser, I furthermore connect
on the terminals of the same... another instrument or device for alternately closing and opening
the circuit... if the device ... be of such character that it will operate to close the circuit... when
the potential in the condenser has reached a certain magnitude, the accumulated charge will
pass through the circuit... The controller may consist of two fixed electrodes separated by a
minute air gap...which breaks down more or less suddenly when a definite difference of
potential is reached at the terminals of the condenser and returns to its original state upon the
passage of discharge". [18]
Tesla then describes the manner of excitation of his single electrode x-ray tube:
"... the source of radiant energy is a special form of Roentgen tube divised by me, having
but one terminal K, generally of aluminum, in the form of a half sphere, with a plain polished
Mirface on the front side from which the streams are thrown off. It may be excited by attaching
it to one of the terminals of any generator of sufficiently high electromotive force." [18]
Tesla continues, describing the operation of the apparatus:
"The... discharge circuit connected to the terminals...of the condenser includes in this
c a s e . . . a circuit controller comprising a fixed terminal or break... and a movable terminal
__________________________________________________________________ in
the shape of a wheel, with a conducting and insulating segments, which may be rotated at an
arbitrary speed by any suitable means.... When the tube ...is excited...streams of matter
... convey a positive charge to... the condenser terminal...This results as before explained in
225
an accumulation of electrical energy in the condenser, which goes on as long as the circuit is
opened. Whenever the circuit is closed owing to the rotation of the wheel the stored energy is
discharged... The source may be any form of Roentgen or Lenard lube but it is obvious from
the theory of action that in order to be very effective the electrical impulses exciting it should
be wholly or at least preponderantly of one sign. If ordinary symmetrical alternating currents
are employed, provision should be made for allowing the easy to fall upon the condesed
plate only during those periods when they are productive of the desired result." [18]
What we make of this is that Tesla is describing a technique to take the high voltage RF
output of the secondary and use it to chare up an "elevated insulated body of capacitance" essence, an open air switch or diode rectifier. After charging the capacitor, at RF rates, be
subsequently discharges the capacitor, at relatively low pulse repetition frequencies (PRF's)
for example at perhaps 6 or 8 discharges per second — or any other that he might desire. The
companion patent is also interesting. [19]
It is also somewhat revealing that Tesla said in his Van de Graaf article in 1934 that:
"My wireless tower on Long Island erected in 1902, carried a sphere which had a diameter
of 67.5 feet... It was to be charged to 30,000,000 volts by a simple device supplying static
electricity and power" [8]
After analyzing the Van de Graaf machine he concedes that it produces large static voltages
but concludes that its power performance is trifling - the rate of charge delivery to spherical
electrode being on the order of a few tens of milliamperes.
"As far back as 1899, I made experiments with 18,000,000 volts and in some tests I was
able to pass a current of 1100 amperes through the air. With my transformers a potential
difference of 30,000,00 volts or more, could easily be obtained and in the present state of the
technical arts a tube or other device capable of taking up very great energy might be
manufactured". [8]
By the way, diary schematic diagrams notwithstanding, it is evident that neither the
elevated tower at Colorado Springs nor the 67.5 food diameter sphere on the tower at
Wardenclyffe were electrically connected to the extra coil when in operation. This is also
borne our by the Long Island notes of May 29, 1901 where Tesla shows an elevated insulated
body of capacitance being charged through space from a ball on the top of an extra coil. The
spacing between these elements is shown to be a controllable distance- perhaps this was the
purpose for the stream elevated shaft at the center of the Wardenclyffe tower. The geometry is
not unlike that shown in Figure 5 of Reference 20. It is well known that drawn out electrical
discharges will affect rectification much as point to plane discharge. However, the process is
usually considered too inefficient.
An ELF Generator
Whatever the rectification mechanism might have been one might hypothesize an ELF
generator which employs the charging mechanism just discussed. Such a charging technique
could have been used to electrostatically charge the tower with "small" pulses of charge
occurring on the positive half cycles of the RF coil oscillations. This would build up the static
charge of the tower at some large Q at a very high DC voltage. When discussing the upper
hood configuration on Nov. 28, 1899, Tesla said:
"This arrangement permitted the charging of the pole easily up to a million volts." [21]
226
If Tesla were to discharge the condenser at a much slower frequency, the discharge
current could be extremely large, being limited only by his ground bed resistance. This
hypothesis is consistent with a public statement made by Tesla in 1934 in Scientific American:
"... Under proper conditions, it is possible to discharge spheres in a time interval
incomparably shorter than consumed in charging them, and so amplify enormously the
intensity of action." [8]
This is to say, the rate of flow of energy during the charging cycle might be at 75 kilojoules
per second over 1 sec... but the rate of flow of energy during the discharge cycle could be at a
rate of 75 Megajoules per second over a time interval of 1 millisecond. In both cases, the
average power is 75 kW but the peak power during the discharge activity would be about
100,000
HP.
As early as 1893, in the Franklin Institute lecture, Tesla described an electrostatic pulse
generator which was repetitively charged with a small amount of energy per charge, at a high
pusle repetition rate, and then rapidly discharged but at a low pulse repetition rate.
This would make possible extremely large peak powers on the discharge cycle. In his
speech, Tesla is describing the situation where a large condenser has been charged up to its
disruptive potential by a small machine supplying static charge:
"When the condensers are charged to a certain potential, air gives way and a disruptive
discharge occurs. There is then a sudden rush of current and generally a large portion of
accumulated electrical energy spends itself. The condensers are thereupon quickly charged
and the same process is repeated in rapid succession...It is evident that if the rate at which the
energy is dissipated by the discharge, is very much greater than the rate of supply to the
condensers, the sudden rushes will be comparatively few, with long time intervals between,
This always occurs when a condenser of considerable capacity is charged by means of a
comparatively small machine." [22]
Several paragraphs later, Tesla continues the description with a hydromechanical
osccillator analogy:
"...Imagine a tank with a wide opening at the bottom, which is kept closed by spring
pressure, but so that it snaps off suddenly when the liquid in the tank has reached a certain
height. Let the fluid be supplied to the tank by means of a pipe feeding at a certain rate. When
the critical height of the liquid is reached, the spring gives way and the bottoms of the tank
drops out. Instantly the liquid falls through the wide opening and the spring, reasserting itself,
closes the bottom again. The tank is now filled and after a certain time interval, the same
process is repeated." [23]
Thus it appears that Tesla had conceived of a technique for obtaining large discharge
currents with controlled pulse repetition frequencies. The vertical discharge current would
produce a vertical current of moment I*dl. This signal, we hypothesize could be controlled at
an appropriate pulse repetition frequency for Schumann Cavity excitation. The controller, as
described in Tesla's patents quoted above could either be "operated by a given rise of
potential in the condenser." (Effectively an ELF relaxation oscillator) or "by rotation of the
wheel" (break device).
227
In spite of the fact thatour hypothetical ELF generator has some merit for satisfying the
internal consistency hypothesis which we stated earlier as a ground rule, i t s acceptability must
be measured against the second requirement of sound physics Tesla said that he got over 1000
amperes in his "antenna." Schumann's solution is in the sinusoidal steady state and even 1000
amperes in a 45-meter tower would seem to make possible relatively weak global field
strengths. We have taken up this issue in another research document.
(Interestingly, however, if one looks at this hypothetical ELF generator as a
fundamental form of the "switched capacitor" devices now of such great interest, the switched
charged dQ = C dV. Over a period which is much larger than the switching period T s the
charge may be assumed to be quasi-continuous so that an equivalent current flow is equal to
dQ divided by T s . The equivalent resistor is T s divided by C. [24] The application of the
theory, however requires careful attention in Tesla's case if damped waves are assumed at the
RF output of the extra coil.)
We observe that if our hypothesis is correct, then it is not remarkable that Tesla would
have said:
"such a circuit may then be excited with impulses of any kind, even low frequency and it
(the magnifying transmitter) will yield sinusoidal and continuous oscillations like those of any
alternator." [6]
If our conjecture has any substance in fact, then the tuned circuit of his magnifying
transmitter was the whole earth-ionoshpere cavity resonator] (This should help the reader
appreciate why source dissipation will be experienced only when a load is engaged in a tuned
receiver somewhere within the earth-ionosphere cavity. - Ed. note)
Corona Effects
There is one other observation to make about his "Magnifying Transmitter" and that is that
its upper regions were engulfed in a coronal glow. In Colorado Springs and at Wardenclyffe
he employed hoods to reduce corona. At Wardenclyffe, he had apparently planned to employ
inverted hemispherical bowls to cover the spherical ball. In 1921, he said that "the underlying
principle" and the "practical significance" of his 1914 patent #1,119,732 [7] was a technique
"for confining the highest tensive flow to the conductors." He stated that the idea was to
construct a conductor:
"... so that its outer surface has itself a large radius of curvature, or is composed of separate
parts, which, irrespective of their own curvature, are arranged in proximity to one another and
on an ideal enveloping symmetrical surface of large radius. These parts my be in the shape of
shells, hoods, discs, cylinders or strands... [25]
We take it that the role of all the hemispherical shells in the 1914 patent was perhaps to
physically bring about a more uniform distribution of charge over the sphere than could have
been gotten with a lower portion missing because of the supports. If this be so, then they
apparently would function in a distributed manner much like resistive dividers in a power
supply capacitor chain, more or less causing a uniform charge distribution over the effective
area of the sphere, and raising its disruptive potential to a maximum possible value. This
would mean that a given size ball on a support could be charged to a greater maximum
voltage.
228
Speaking of corona, we should also point out another curious feature of the Colorado
Springs experiments.
From the patent wrappers associated with U.S. patent # 645,576, it is apparent that
Tesla included a remarkable description of a rather extensive corona sphere surrounding his
"elevated and insulated" antenna terminal, sometime before November 25, 1899. [26]
"... a conductor or terminal, to which impulses such as those here considered are
supplied, but which is otherwise insulated in space and is remote from any conducting bodies,
is surrounded by a luminous, flamelike brush or discharge, often covering many hundreds of
even as much as several thousands of square feet of surface... This influence is not confined to
that portion of the atmosphere which is discernable by the eye as luminous and which, as has
been the case in some instances actually observed, may fill the space within a spherical of
cylindrical envelope of a diameter of sixty feet or more but reaches out to far remote regions,
the insulated qualities of the air being, as I have ascertained, still sensibly impaired at a
distance of many hundred times that through which the luminous discharge projects from the
terminal and in all probability, much further... I have noticed that his region of decidedly
noticeable influence continuously enlarges as times goes on... in some instances the area
covered by the flame-discharge mentioned, was enlarged more than six-fold by an
augmentation of the electrical pressure amounting scarcely to more than 50%" [27]
Tesla apparently observed a corona sphere in excess of sixty feet in diameter. The space
charge distribution apparently was due to the extremely high static or DC voltage on the
elevated electrode. We conjecture that both its mode of production and its use were as
outlined above.
The Tesla Tower
During the mid 1930's Tesla's work on a defense weapon apparently went so far as to be
actually considered for construction. From file at the Tesla museum, it is apparent that Tesla
had several "artist conceptions" made of a building with a tower in the form of a cylinder 16.5
feet in diameter, 115 feet tall. The structure was capped at the top by a 10-meter diameter
sphere (covered with hemispherical shells as in the 1914 patent). The sketches were prepared
by on Titus de Bobula of New York City. There is also correspondence with Alcoa Aluminum
Company between July 29 to September 24, 1935, concerning fabrication, the last letter in
essence saying that Alcoa was ready to start as soon as Tesla advanced the funds.
Whether the project would have been another disaster or not, we have no ideas. Since
we have already gone this far out on a limb of speculation, permit us to conjecture what Tesla
might have had in mind. We listed four components that Tesla maintained were essential.
With the first, one might associate the Method (Patent #685,958) and Apparatus (Patent
#685,957) for producing x-rays and providing rectification. With the second, one might
associate the Process (#649,621) for producing high voltage RF - i.e. the Tesla Coil patents.
Certainly Tesla powered his x-ray tubes from the top of Tesla Coils.
These four components are mentioned in at least four references during 1934 - at time
when he was thinking and writing about the Van de Graaf machine. Perhaps it is not
suprising to find the same language as appears above in component three also appearing in
reference 8:
229
"...under proper conditions, it is possible to discharge spheres in a time interval
incomparably shorter than consumed in charging them and so amplify enormously the
intensity of the action. [8]
Certainly as pointed out above, this would be consistent with the second item.
To guess what the fourth component is would be shooting in the dark. However, let us
go even further out on the limb and suggest that Tesla was perhaps employing a technique to
rapidly lower the disruptive potential of a statically charged elected electrode. As is evidenced
by the diary entrance of June 6, 1899, Tesla had already experimented along these lines. For
example, suppose that one had a charged, insulated spherical shell in static equilibrium, and
then rapidly punctured the shell with a very slender highly conductive track or path. (Or
equivalently introduced, a charge of like sign immediately external to the sphere).
The
question to be answered is "Would a 32-foot diameter sphere charged to 50 MV produce
sufficient repelling force for the contemplated weapon?." This question can probably be
answered but, we have not yet performed the calculation. The answer might be no.
Final Comments
We have gone well beyond the bounds of propriety in our speculations. However, we
believe that considerable light may have been thrown upon the intent and operation of Tesla's
terrestrial resonance oscillator. If we have been able to provoke the reader to probe more
deeply into Tesla's research, then we feel that we have attained some degree of success.
Lastly, no matter what the results or scientific merit of our research, whether every
speculation be false or perfectly true, we all must never lose touch with the central fact that
Tesla was a man whose creative intellect was set free to soar.
Truly, he touched the Holy Fire - and the world community is better off because of this
good and decent and noble gentleman, whom we honor at this Tesla Centennial Symposium.
References
1. Colorado Springs Notes, by Nikola Tesla, Nolit, Beograd, 1978pp. 192;226-227
2. I am indebted to Professor Vojin Popovic of Belgrade University for asking this
insightful question.
3. Reference 1, p. 364.
4. "On Light and other High Frequency Phenomena" by Nikola Tesla, delivered before the
Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA February 1893, and the National Electric Light
Association, St Louis March 1893. Repuplished in Inventions, Researches and Writings of
Nikola Tesla. By T.C. Martin, Omni Publications, (1977) p. 347
5. "The problem of increasing Human Energy" by Nikola Tesla, The Century Illustrated
Monthly Magazine, June 1900, p. 208.
6. "My Inventions, Part V -" The Magnifying Transmitter" by Nikola Tesla , The Wireless
Experimenter. June 1919, pp 112, 113, 148,173, 176, 177, 178.
7. "Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy", Nikola Tesla, U. S. Patent # 1119,732.
Application filed January 18, 1902; Patented December 1, 1914.
8. "Possibilities of Electrostatic Generators" by Nikola Tesla, Scientific American, March
1934, pp.132-134; 163-165; and April 1934 p. 205.
9. "World System of Wireless Transmission and Energy" by Nikola Tesla, Telegraph and
Telephone Age, October 16, 1927, pp.457-460. See page 459.
230
10. Abstract of notes by John G Trump, quoted in Tesla, Man out of Time by Margaret
Chaney, Prentice Hall, 1981 p. 275.
11. " A Machine to End War" by Nikola Tesla, Liberty Magazine, February 1935, pp. 5-7
12. "On Roentgen Rays" by Nikola Tesla, Electrical Review,March 11, 1896 pp 131, 134,
135.
13. "Nikola Tesla tells of New Radio Theories" NY Herald Tribune, Sunday, September
22, 1929. pp. 1,21.
14.
"Nikola Tesla Plan to keep Wireless Thumb on Ships at Sea" New York Press,
November 9, 1913.
15. Reference 1, Page 29 (June 6, 1899).
16. Reference 1, Page 365 (January 2, 1900).
17. "Tesla's Views on Electricity and the War" by H.W. Secor Electrical Experimenter,
August 1917, pg 270.
18. "Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy" Nikola Tesla, US Patent # 685,957.
Applied for March 21, 1901 granted November 5,1901.
19. "A Method of utilizing Radiant Energy" Nikola Tesla, US Patent # 685958. Applied
for March 21, 1901, granted November 5, 1901.
20.
"Lightning Protector" Nikola Tesla , US Patent # 1266,175 Applied for May 6,
1916,
granted May l4,1918.
21.
Reference 1 p. 322 (November 26, 1899).
22. Reference 4 p. 304
23. Reference 4 p. 309
24. "Switched -Capacitor circuit design" by R Gregorian, K.W. Martin and G.C. Temer,
Proceedings of the IEEE vol 71, No.8 August 1983 pp. 941-966
25. "Nikola Tesla on Electrical Transmission" Letter to the Editor, New York Evening
Post, September 26, 1921. Republished in Tesla Said, edited by John T Ratzlaff, Tesla book
Company, 1984, p. 224.
26.
Dr. Nikola Tesla- Selected Patent Wrappers compiled by John T Ratzlaff, Tesla
Book
Company, 1980, Vol 1 pp. 166, 168-187
27.
"System of Transmission of Electrical Energy" Nikola Tesla , U.S. Patent # 645,576.
Applied for September 2, 1897, granted on March 20, 1900.
James Corum can be reached at 86 Weirton Mine Rd., Morgantown, WV 26508
Kenneth Corum can be reached at 104 River Rd., Plymouth, NH 03264
231
14 Harnessing Earth-Ionosphere Cavity
Energy for Wireless Transmission
Elizabeth Rauscher and William Van Bise
Reprinted from Tesla: A Journal of Modern Science, 1997
Fundamental Excitatory Modes of the Earth and Earth-Ionosphere Resonant Cavity
Some of the principles of geologic precursor and meteorologic frequencies in the
extremely low frequency (ELF) range of the electromagnetic spectrum and the
possible relationship to the occurrence of earthquakes and volcanoes are explored.
Monitoring of electromagnetic waves and magnetic fields has indicated the presence
of characteristic natural and unique ELF frequencies which precede seismic events.
We have gathered extensive ELF magnetic field data from 1979 to the present time
in many locations on the North American continent before the eruptions of Mt. St.
Helens. The pre-eruptive and eruptive phases of Mt. St. Helens in the state of
Washington were observed and analyzed in detail. Our system was on-line in the
Portland, Oregon area, 40 miles south west of Mt. St. Helens, from 1979 through
1983 and on line in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1984 to the present.
Field measurements have augmented the permanent station data. The detection
system utilizes a 150,000 foot antenna wound on a coil form adjacent to a very high
permeability mu metal and the signal is passed into unique electronic processing
elements which amplify and smooth the signal for flat response and permit readout
and analysis in the time and frequency domains. The coil is electrically shielded so
that pure magnetic field intensities are observed. The long-axis coil-core system
allows directivity as well as high sensitivity. These are the main elements in the
T-1050 detection system.
We have observed that characteristic ELF magnetic field oscillations with Earth
rotational periods from 1.2 to 1.8 Hz, determined theoretically and subsequently
measured at around 1.56 Hz with first harmonics of 2.9 to 3.8 Hz appearing in the
Americas which grow greater in amplitude and then disappear from 24 to 72 hours
preceding a geologic event. The amplitude of these oscillations is roughly proportional to the distance from measurement to event site and event magnitude.
Multi-station detection could forecast locations, time and magnitude of impending
events.
We also present some of our theoretical calculations related to the description of
coherent collective modes of oscillation in the earth and earth-ionosphere resonance
media. We will also examine some of our work in relation to Tesla's wireless
energy transmission concepts of harnessing earth-ionospheric cavity energy.
Introduction
Extensive monitoring in areas of the Pacific Northwest during the period of time
from early 1979 through late 1983 was conducted by Van Bise. The measured
signals showed significant correlation between the volcanic activity of Mt. St. Helens
and a range of frequencies between 0.1 and 30 Hz, with the frequency of
approximately 3 Hz corresponding to, presumably, magmatic pulsations which
233
preceeded eruptive events. Researchers at Portland State University examined the
volcanic ash after the May 18, 1980 eruption and found the ash contained 30% of a
material similar to magnetite. In the state of Washington on Sunday morning, 8:32
AM, Pacific Daylight time, May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted in a cloud of fire,
ash, steam and particulate matter that launched a half a cubic mile of this matter
laterally and one quarter of a cubic mile of the volcano's mass was ejected vertically,
to a height of 10 miles. When this event was complete, 1,000 feet of the mountain
had disappeared and 60 people were dead. Future deployment of detection
equipment such as is described here could prevent such a loss of life. [1,2,3]
Since then Rauscher and Van Bise have monitored ambient field impulses in
California and many other areas of the United States and Canada. The data show a
significant correlation with specific signatures which preceded earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. The pattern of signatures always ceased some 24 to 72 hours
before such an event occurred.
Equipment used consisted of a calibrated T-1050-L-H magnetic field detector with a
lower frequency range from 0.01 Hz to 300 Hz and a sensitivity factor of 10-10 gauss
(Low pass system) and a higher frequency range from 1.0 Hz to 50 KHz at 10-6
gauss sensitivity (High pass System) was developed and employed at Tecnic
Research Laboratories. The detector specifications are given in more detail later in
this paper. Other equipment included a custom designed electrostatic voltmeter, a
field intensity meter and two spectrum analyzers. [4,5,6]
The natural planetary impulses and vibrations preceding geologic events suggest that
work with multi-station detection can lead to the successful development of an
earthquake-volcanic eruption early warning system. We use our magnetic field
detector to measure magnetic field changes, some of which reflect oscillatory modes
of the earth. These modes of oscillation can be detected as seismic magnetic and
electromagnetic pulsations of the earth and earth's surface which move in the earth's
normal static magnetic field and the Earth's ionosphere resonance cavity. Movement of magmatic material with ferromagnetic (magnetite) inclusions and corresponding ionospheric changes in turn affect and produce flux fields which affect the
entire earth ionospheric processes. [5,7]
In this report, the authors present experimental field data and their analysis and
theoretical models demonstrating possible mechanisms of the dynamic earth processes. We also examine the relationship between the results of these data and Tesla's
wireless energy transmission concepts.
The ground wave and the ionospheric wave are set up in such a manner as to produce
the predicted 1.57 ratio to the velocity of light which was stated by Tesla in one of
his 1905 patents. [8] In his model, Tesla treated the earth as a finite capacitive
reactive component surrounded by an ion shell of variable altitude, beginning at
about 50 km in height, which represents a system whereby a resonant ringing signal
can be set up and transmitted. Although the system represents a leaky capacitor
with a Q of about 4 to 5, it is possible to set up a resonant state so that it appears as
though a signal is transmitted and received from any two points on the earth's
surface. In actuality, according to the Rauscher-Van Bise model, the signal is not
"transmitted and received," but represents a non-local global coherent state. Any
event which can "wiggle" the static earth-ionospheric magnetic flux is transmitted as
both a local and non-local influence.
In 1966, Rauscher determined the relationship expressed by Tesla in the
Colorado Springs Notes in which he utilizes the dimensions in centimeters to
represent the units of inductance, "L" in henries and capacitance, "C" in farads. This
conversion factor system has been found to be crucial in understanding the principles
involved in Tesla's Colorado Springs experiments. The purpose of the experiments
and why, to this day, they have never been successfully completed is given. Also
explained in detail is the interpretation of Tesla's work and the operation of his
234
wireless energy device. Rauschcr presents the mathematical principles germane to
producing ball lightening from a fully ionized resonant stable plasma. [9] This
research is summarized in this report and is detailed more completely in other
papers. [9,10,11,12]
Tesla's Colorado Springs experiments are examples of a class of coherent state
experiments and other experimental examples are discussed. Although much of
Tesla's notes and data were lost, "confiscated" or presented briefly and in a cryptic
manner, enough information exists to reconstruct some of Tesla's principles and his
planned experiments so that we can describe the unfinished phase of Tesla's work.
[13] The Tesla materials relevant to this presentation is from the time period of
about 1897 to 1910.
Tesla's Vision
In 1905, Tesla described the earth as a finite small capacitance with regard to
frequencies in the VLF region, and a resonant LRC system to ELF frequencies. He
had hoped to utilize the VLF and ELF frequencies in concert simultaneously to
provide a very large conduit through which nature's vast reservoir of electrical forces
could be routed for the benefit of mankind. Tesla observed that nature's electrical
system is activated by lightening storms or through other meteorologic and geologic
activity. The type of system originally designed by Tesla could have acted as a
"great energy siphon" by exciting the ionosphere and intervening media and then, by
tapping into the flow of this immense reservoir of energy and tunneling it down to
earth stations, mankind would today have all the "clean" energy necessary with
which to put his machines to work. Tesla's visions, confirmed by his experiments at
Colorado Springs in 1899 and by his life-long extraordinary ability in constructing
electrical and mechanical devices, led him to develop ideas and concepts for his
wireless energy transmission which he described in his patents and papers. In his
words,
Now that I have discovered that, not withstanding its vast dimensions and
contrary to all observations heretofore made, the terrestrial globe may be in a
targe part or as a whole behave(s) toward disturbances impressed upon it ]n
the same manner as a conductor of limited size; this fact being demonstrated by
novel phenomena which I shall hereinafter describe. [8]
With the formulation in this patent, Tesla treated the earth as a finite capacitor and as
an element of a circuit. Through the legalities of patent law, Tesla had patented the
earth! Use of his device to harness the energy of the earth was not to be, however,
and we may be poorer for this undeployed natural resource. He had exclusive rights
to the planet-ionospheric energy for 17 years and we, the people, re-own it by now as
it is in the public domain. One wonders what our world would have been like had
Tesla's vision come true and his "magnifying" transmitter had been deployed.
Tesla had developed the techniques and conducted experiments on the transmission
of information through space before the turn of the century. Tesla, not Marconi,
was the first to invent the radio and after his death in 1943 and after a review of the
claims and dates given by Tesla relating to the invention of wireless communications, the Patent Office conceded that Tesla had indeed preceded Marconi and was
actually the inventor of what we now call radio and television communications.
Little serious research has been conducted on his effort to develop a wireless energy
transmission grid or to examine the relationship between his work at Colorado
Springs and Wardenclyffe, New York. Tesla's research from his
Colorado Springs Notes and his work in the design and construction of the tower at
Wardenclyffe are examined in relation to our current research. [14] We present our
interpretation of these experiments and some of our data on measurements of earth
resonant phenomena taken over the last eleven years.
235
Both authors have been interested in Tesla's research and related work since our
early teens. It is interesting, in looking back over one's life, how various pieces of
different puzzles began falling into place. [15] Our ideas and research on earth
resonant phenomena and some possibilities for wireless energy transmission, both
natural and man-made appear to complement those of Tesla.
We suggest that a system which involves a pulsed AC system in a high DC potential
can create a "steady state." In Tesla's words in 1934
Most people, and not a few electricians, will think that very long and noisy
sparks are indicative of great energy, which is far from being the case.
In fact, at Colorado Springs, Tesla ran an AC system and raised and rotated a
capacitor ball on a swivel utilizing the natural DC potential charge and discharge
characteristics of the earth.
The Colorado air sustains a high potential before breakdown. The purpose of
Tesla's experiments were to build up a voltage to achieve resonance; the necessary
voltage was often not attainable from the local AC power generators since over
voltage breakdown would occur before the necessary potential could be achieved.
Needless to say, the problems created at the local power station by Tesla's
experiments did not endear him to the power company or the people living in the
area—even though he invented the power system!
Tesla carried on extensive correspondence with his laboratory workers in New York
as his work progressed at Colorado Springs. His plan was to use the Colorado
Springs laboratory as a resonance generating station and use the system to be built in
New York as an amplifier and receiver. Work commenced at Wardenclyffe in 1901
at Shoreham, Long Island. Work on this project was never completed due to lack of
funding. In Tesla's words,
My wireless tower on Long Island carried a sphere which had a diameter of 67
1/2 feet and was mounted in this manner. It was charged to 30,000,000 volts
by a simple device for supplying static electricity and power.
The key concepts are that it was a static, high voltage device. Later he compared it
to a Van de Graaff generator. He also explained the purpose of Wardenclyffe to be
that "one does not need to be an expert to understand that a device of this kind is not
a producer of electricity like a dynamo, but merely a receiver or collector with
amplifying qualities."
We have calculated the proper spacing to produce and receive a signal resonant with
the earth. The location of Colorado Springs and the Wardenclyffe tower are in the
proper relationship to produce earth-ionosphere resonant waves to achieve Tesla's
desired results for worldwide communications and an enormous energy system.
Again in Tesla's words, this system would "not only (make possible) the instantaneous and precise wireless transmission of any kind of signals, messages or
characters, to all parts of the world, but also allow the inter-connection of the system,
telegraph, telephone, and other signal stations, without any change in their present
equipment." Again, his stated purpose was to free the human race from forced labor
and to create a time when "rich and poor no longer meant differences of materials
conditions but of spiritual capacity and ambition-a time when inter-communication
all over the earth should be immediate and universal and even when knowledge
should be derived from sources now hardly imagined."
Rauscher and Van Bise formulate a simple model involving a resonant system which
sets up a ground and air wave that would be simultaneously emitted and would add
by resonant reinforcement. In the following and necessarily incomplete analysis we
consider two interactive waves of similar but different frequencies. The analysis
proceeds as follows.
236
237
problem of the intervening short periods of time and address the local perturbations
as observed and measured by relatively crude instruments within these perturbations
A satisfactory solution which resolves theory, observation and experiment in a
self-consistent manner does not yet exist in the literature [ 17|.
We therefore present the following simple calculations based on archeological time
and a dynamically equilibrized earth-ionosphere system. The numbers given yield a
rough approximation of the potential energy available but the figures are probably
conservative since we have not taken into account the well known electrojet-Hall
current contributions to the total energy.
We also have not taken into account the Peltier and Seebeck effects, the former
occurring at the leading and the latter occurring at the trailing edges respectively, of
the earth-ionosphere interface. Thermal energy from the SUN meeting the cold
junction of the leading edge of the ionosphere would generate a potential difference
and dynamic current as a Seebeck effect. Conversely, the trailing edge Seebeck
voltage would be affected by the Peltier junction thermodynamic difference as they
trail off into the night-side cold. The night-side hemisphere magnetospheric flux
line excitations from the sunlit hemisphere ionosphere-magnetosphere-earth excitation would facilitate transfer of power at the night-side. These effects would give
rise to significant local and non-local ionic current flows. An earth-ionospheric
interface transverse Hall voltage would be a natural result of the Peltier-Seebeck
effect generating earth-ionospheric circulating currents, and these factors are also left
out of our potential energy calculations. Nevertheless, the amount of potential
energy available within the earth-ionospheric system, if it could be harnessed, is
surprisingly large.
The frequency differential between the North American power grid and the
European/Asian power grid may also produce unique effects. The 60 and 50 Hertz
differential produces a 10 Hz sum and difference frequency ( 2 x 60 = 120 - 50 = 70
Hz near the Navy project ELF Center frequency). [18]
A great deal of power
is being transmitted or pumped into the atmosphere from
power line losses as I2R drop is emitted into the earth-ionosphere cavity, which acts
as a leaky but extremely large capacitance. The earth-ionosphere represents two
plates of a moving variable capacitor of roughly 24,000 by 24,000 miles area
separated by an approximately average distance of some 108 miles.
A simple calculation based on the half sphere of the sunlit hemisphere of the earth
shows that the capacitance of the hemisphere from the ground plate up to the D
region "plate" of the ionosphere where the peak electron density exists to 65 km
(about 108 miles) is approximately 7,568 microfarads.
From the formula C = (22.45 KA(N-1))/108t) where C is in microfarads, K is the
dielectric constant of free space with a value of 1, A is the area of one plate in square
inches, N is the number of plates and t is the thickness of the dielectric in inches.
Using an average value of 100 volts per meter increases
in the vertical field at the
earth's surface up to 65 kilometers, we have 6.5 x 106 volts per unit meter. Twelve
thousand miles is 14,400
meters, and for 14,400 meters squared the available
potential is about 1.35 x 1015 volts.
Applying Ohm's law for power, we have P = E2/R, where E2 is the electric potential
in volts for 14,400 meters squared and R is the 12free space impedance in ohms and
since R is about 377 ohm, we see that 3.575 x 10 watts potential is available if it is
possible to produce a dynamic resonance motion in the electrostatic potential. By
definition, 746 watts is equivalent to 1 horsepower, and for a dynamic resonant
earth-ionosphere, the potentially available horsepower on a sunlit hemisphere would
be about 4.79 x 109 horsepower!
238
these factors and radio-television communication systems as well as satellite
systems produce extremely complex energy production and re-radiation processes.
Certain particular systems can become locked; that is, interaction of energy systems
with each other and natural sources may become resonantly coupled or locked.
Some of this energy resonates in the ionosphere and some is transmitted from this
system which has a Q of 4 to 5. The Q is defined the "figure of merit" or the ratio of
the energy stored over the energy dissipated. The transmitted power that does not
escape forms frequency mixes such as 10Hz and the odd and even harmonics of the
50 and 60 Hz power systems. These frequencies form a complex based on physical
areas of emission from the earth and day/night effects.
The observed ELF artificial impulses in the environment lead one to speculate that
such pulses may be the result of a device [19,20] similar to the one envisioned by
Tesla and which he described as a magnifying transmitter. By means of such a
device, high potential stored electric charges should be able to be converted to
propagating magnetic wave resonances between the earth's core, the ionosphere and
the magnetosphere. Such conversion, if done with sufficient precision, would make
it possible to realize a gain of acousto-electric energy by matching and utilizing the
approximately 1.5 Hz rotational vibrations set up in and above the earth as it moves
on its axis in its orbit around the sun.
The magnifying transmitter, according to Tesla, was to facilitate worldwide
communications while at the same time it could be used to transmit electrical power
without wires to ground stations on the globe which are suitably designed for
resonance and are connected to a power generator. The local power generators
would of course have step down transformers and meters and wires for distributing
97% efficient electric power to a convenient radius of customers. Power
would still
have to be metered and sold but at considerably lower rates. The I2R losses would
be minimal however, although maintenance to the ground generators would be
necessary.
The earth's magnetic field lines describe minute motions due to micropulsations set
up in them as a result of this rotational vibration. As is known, a moving magnetic
field produces a current in a conductor. The earth's core is the likely conductor
which would be expected to respond to these minute field variations.
Although the magnetic field of the earth is of small intensity, (about 0.5 gauss in the
mid-latitudes) [21], the very large volume of the conductive core and the even larger
radius of the surface magnetic field lines, provide a system with a great volume of
electric current circulating in it.
Another potentially12 usable volume of electric current exists in the earth's magnetosphere. Some 10 watts exist as the result of the magnetosphere. The combined
electric power potential available from the ionosphere-core-magnetosphere is about
4.5 times the world's electric generation capacity! The major problem seems to be
development of a method to gain access to these systems of electric currents.
We believe that Tesla had solved this problem in his experiments in 1899 at
Colorado Springs. [13] By means of a specially constructed electrical detection
system, he observed stationary waves showing that the earth behaved as a spherical
conductor with finite dimensions and he also found that high potential, tuned circuits
capacitively coupled to the earth developed two wavelengths when resonance
occurred.
A spherical conductor mounted on an insulated pole served as the electrically
elevated terminal which emanated radio waves that obeyed the ordinary formula for
wave length, where the frequency divided into the speed of light yielded the length
of the waves. However, the earth terminal, coupled to the secondary of a critically
tuned inductor through a low value capacitance of special design, ostensibly
propagated waves at the same time which were longer by a factor of about 1.57 times
239
the velocity of light, or some 40% to 60% greater in length [19]. Tesla said that the
Maxwellian electromagnetic component from the elevated terminal would become
negligible as resonance of the earth's core and ionosphere developed. The magnetic
flux from Earth's steady state can be "strummed" communicating such phenomena
as "pearls" or vibrating magnetic flux density increases at nodes and anti-nodes and
the vibrations propagate almost with no delays. [7]
The elevated terminal was to be specially constructed with a unique and very large
radius of curvature in order to raise the electrical pressure extremely high and to
store it there by virtue of its own electrical attraction until released into the air and
ground terminals in a pulsed manner. The initial primary current would be of very
large magnitude until the condition of resonance was struck on the earth's half
sphere radius, after which the primary current could be expected to lower to a more
practical value.
The earth-ionosphere was evidently envisioned by Tesla to be able to be treated, in
certain electrical cases, as a lossless transmission line containing kinetic energy from
its rotational motion which would be able to be utilized with a magnifying
transmitter. The air above the elevated high potential terminal would offer the
conductive path to the lower ionosphere by virtue of pulsed ionizations of the air
molecules directly above this highly charged terminal. All vehicles could operate
on electrical power and aircraft could fly on electrically driven motors and none
would ever cross the ionization paths due to repulsion effects and thus all could be
collision-free.
In order to gain access to the closed earth magnetic field core system, the period of
the wave from the transmitter would have to be carefully controlled and would have
to be somewhat below 20,000 Hz down to a low of 6 Hz or cycles per second, for
practical utilization.
Furthermore, the time interval (on/off time) of the wave train excitation should be
between one eighth and one twelfth per second. The electromagnetic component,
free space, half wave length and longer magnetic half-wave length would thus be
able to couple in a heterodyne manner-"mixing" in a constructive interference
pattern at each half wavelength around the earth from the transmitting device
producing larger magnitude effects. When these two waves couple, a lateral
travelling wave plus a vertical standing wave should develop. By carefully
adjusting the repetition rate and impulse duration, these transmitted dual waves may
be "latched" onto or ride on the earth's magnetic field lines. The vertical wave
might then begin to move in a path through the earth and out into space again,
gaining kinetic energy (harmonic pendulum effect) from the earth's mechanical/rotational vibration system. These dual waves of the same period but of different
lengths, interacting, may be sufficiently compressed to exhibit plasma-like wave
circulation forms which could fit the criteria of a macrocosmic soliton-antisoliton.
Solitons or solitary waves are dynamic entities that are localized in space and retain a
fixed shape or form. Nonlinear recohering terms in the wave equation describing
soliton-like behavior overcome dispersive losses so that the wave appears non-dissipative in space. The amplitude of these wave-like quantities is proportional to their
velocity.
Tesla had stated as early as 1904 that the mode of excitation and the action of his
magnifying transmitter may be said to be diametrically opposite to that of an
electromagnetic transmitting circuit. He described the magnifying transmitter
circuit as a device which acts like an immense pendulum, indefinitely storing the
energy of the primary exciting impulses and impressing upon the earth and its
conducting atmosphere, uniform harmonic oscillations of very great intensities. He
also said that the electromagnetic radiations of a properly tuned magnifying
transmitter would be reduced to an insignificant quantity. In addition, Tesla said
that a number of distinctive elements put together in a manner analogous to the
240
241
medium
is
one
which
rapidly
attenuates
the
part
of
the
electromagnetic
wave
that
penetrates inside it, but since most of the electromagnetic wave is reflected from its
surface, a strongly absorbing medium is really a poor absorber, if measured by the
fraction of the total electromagnetic wave energy absorbed. At about 30 Hz, the
earth elastic-acoustic wave and the ionosphere magnetic wave couple at the core.
Thus about 30 oscillations are able to be sustained by the kinetic energy of t h e
planetary rotation, which fits our observation.
During field measurements in 1979 and 1980, a curious anomaly was discovered
about one mile east of the Bonneville Dam in Oregon, in a region where no 30 Hz
waves were found. The complete area of absent waves was not plotted but the
measurements indicated that a "hole" existed beginning at about the Eagle Creek fish
hatchery and stretching approximately east south eastward. It is possible that a
resonance of the earth-ionospheric cavity might cause resonance absorption bands at
nodal locations on the earth's surface. In the case of ELF resonance absorption, the
reflection-absorption-retransmission zone would be of large radius and could
possibly result in a photon-phonon gyroscopic spin wave effect [28,29]. The spin
processional frequency of waves may be sustained by a given absorption producing
frequency as long as the driving pulse intensity is present at a given threshold level.
The damping factor will be reduced, perhaps to the degree necessary for sustaining a
spatial soliton wave [30,31,32]. Latent effect periods (delayed re-emission) would
occur and depend upon pulse duration and repetition rate. When pulse transmissions change in frequency, the waves may damp momentarily and at times might
precess to a rate that could match the vibrational rate of various piezoelectric
geologic materials such as quartz, which might induce earth movements (volcanoes
and seismic activity).
Since it is well known that a difference in phase in field intensity and polarization is
always accompanied by energy absorption, it may be that ELF magnetic field
resonance absorption effects cause far-field electric vector effects (earth to ionosphere E-field) and may produce a near-field, high-intensity magnetic component at
even wavelength distances from an ELF source. At the same time, a high intensity
electric field may produce as a far-field effect magnetic pulses at each quarter
wavelength distance from the electromagnetic emitter source. If ELF absorption
effects exist at areas on the earth's surface as a result of core-ionosphere-magnetosphere excitations, the energy may be retransmitted from those areas at substantially
greater intensities than the intensity of the pulsed energy originally absorbed. This
would be seen as abnormally high electric field intensities.
Examples of real time data covering a period of time from 1979 through 1986 are
given in Reference 14, and a few illustrative examples are given in Appendices I and
II. Experimental field measurements in the ELF-VLF frequency ranges were begun
in 1972 and in that year, an approximately 10 Hz infrared frequency shift pulse was
detected in the summer day-lit sky around noon and 4pm from a monitoring station
in Portland, Oregon. The pulse was only on at intermittent intervals during the day
for the next few months, then the pulse disappeared. In late 1975 and officially in
July 1976, the 10 Hz pulses of the "Russian woodpecker" [33] came on the air and
has remained on the air until the present time.
In the late summer of 1979 other artificial signals came on the air with repetition
rates of 15 and 30 Hz. In November and December 1979, monitoring in the Pacific
Northwest yielded magnetic signals of many different waveforms and frequencies
mixed in with 10 Hz, 15 Hz and 30 Hz.
Many signals of natural and artificial origin coexist and synergistic effects between
the natural resonances and man-made energies allow us to make a working
hypothesis of the electromagnetic hydrodynamics of the earth-ionosphere, particularly with regard to geologic activity and weather.
242
Some of the artificial impulses have been interfering with lawful communications
woldwide since 1976. Significant Interfering electromagnetic signals were found
on the 3 to 30 megahertz (MHz) bands and are usually pulsed at an on/off rate of 10
per second. The 10 Hz signals may have resulted from what the Soviets have
admitted to be "radio wave experiments." They presumably originated somewhere
east of the Baltic Sea. Some of these signals were seen to be phase and pulse width
correlated with magnetic waves. Since July 1979, variable pulse width magnetic
waves of approximately 10, 15, and 30 Hz resembling pulse time modulation (PTM),
along with data-like impulses, were also observed with intensities exceeding an order
of magnitude above the earlier observed natural signals in this frequency range, with
As earlier stated, most of the
an amplitude of about 100 to 150 microgauss
artificiall magnetic waves in the 10 to 30 Hz range were observed to propagate at
maximum amplitudes in the vertical direction, suggesting the possibility of altered
earth- ionospheric resonance excitations.
We have examined the characteristics of some of the natural waves and, as we have
already noted, related these frequencies and wave forms to some of those hypothesized by Tesla. We have also examined some of the artificial, man-made signals as
perhaps emanating from a modern variation of a device patented by Nikola Tesla in
1905 and which was termed a magnifying transmitter. (See data in Appendix I).
Measurements
of Magnetic and Electromagnetic
in the ELF Frequency Range
Pulsations
The device we used in making our magnetic field measurements is described as
follows. The T-1050 field detector operates on the principle that a coil of
conducting wire, insulated and consisting of some 150,000 feet of #44 AWG wound
permeability mu-metal material adjacent
on an insulating spool form with a high
to the inner windings, responds to a fluctuating magnetic field; or, if the coil is
moved in a static magnetic field, it will respond to the field in a dynamic manner
[34]. In either case, coil response to magnetic field fluctuations results in the
generation of fluctuating voltages. The voltage is proportional to the number of
turns of wire and the dimensions of the coil, the permeability of the mu-metal
material and the magnitude of the magnetic field.
The sine of the angle of the "cutting" of magnetic field flux lines is another important
factor in the sensitivity-frequency response characteristics of a coil-core type of
magnetic field detection system. Slow moving magnetic flux changes in the coil,
such as would be the case at frequencies below 1 Hertz, will induce a much lower
voltage at the coil output than, for example, magnetic fluctuations moving at a 100
Hertz rate. There is an order of magnitude difference between 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz, but
there are about three orders of magnitude of decreased sensitivity between these two
frequencies and less than an order of magnitude (about three times less) between 1
Hz and 100 Hz.
In a coil system such as used in the T-1050, the resonant frequency of the coil-core is
about 48 Hz; normally the resonant frequency is determined by
Ordinarily the inductance L and the capacitance C in radio frequency circuits are
directly calculable by the above formula. However, in a coil-core magnetic field
detection system, other complicating factors are introduced, such as the permeability
of the core, the distributed capacitance of the wire over its length, the magnitude of
self induction relative to the induced back electromotive force and non-sinusoidal
wave fronts acting on the coil-core, etc. These are some of the problems which need
to be addressed when utilizing a coil-core type of magnetic detection device system.
These are dealt with in the equalization, filtering and amplifying networks following
the coil-core generated voltages. We take advantage of the fly wheel-like storage
capabilities of a coil system and feed the coil generated voltages through carefully
243
244
The 31.4 Hz signal can be analyzed as about a 30 Hz signal, heterodyning and
mixing with the approximate 1.5 Hz earth rotational vector frequency. Other
frequeneies we huve observed associated with natural phenomena, such as volcanoes
and seismic activity, are complex, showing sine-waves with interspersed jagged
waves unlike the 30 Hz signals and other artificial ELF frequencies. Some of the
man-made signals display telemetry like characteristics.
Seismic activity has been occurring periodically in San Leandro in the San Francisco
Bay Area of California. We have been observing irregular slow waves of 0.48 Hz
and some clusters at 1.32, 1,56, 1.84 and 3.18 to 3.2 for the vertical coil
configuration. For example, these frequencies were observed at 8pm on January 14,
1986. News reports later that evening indicated that earthquakes occurred near
Salinas and San Jose, California measuring 4.3 and 5.2 respectively on the Richter
scale.
We observed the onset of a 3.2 Hz wave maximum with an approximately
north-south coil orientation from the 6th through the 13th of November 1986.
Previously, this frequency and other specific frequencies had been associated with
the volcanoes we observed with the Mt. St. Helens activity in 1980. On November
1 5 t h , 1986 the enormous volcanic eruption of volcano Nevada de Ruiz, near Bogata,
Columbia was reported and this event occurred south of our observation station.
This activity had been preceded by some steam eruptions before the major blast that
killled over 23,000 people. A small quake of 3.2 on the Richter scale occurred that
day in San Jose, which was consistent with our observation of the north-south coil
orientation measurements of slow waves. Some other example predictions of
seismic activity are our measurements in the period preceding August 1986, where
we observed magnetic field oscillations around 1.5 Hz and 3.2 Hz which were most
intense in the north-south direction.
During this period an earthquake occurred in Alaska measuring 5.0 on the Richter
scale and two others occurred in China measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. A
"precursor" quake occurred near Mexico City and another occurred at Santa Barbara
which measured 3.3 on the Richter scale. Earthquake signatures continued and we
expected more and stronger activity. On the 19th of August, 1985, news reports
stated that at 8:18am Pacific time, a quake occurred 250 miles west of Mexico City
measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale which was felt as far away as Houston, Texas.
Predictions of continued activity was made and the next day another quake occurred
measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale which was called an "after shock." Some 20,000
lives were lost during that period. [14]
Theoretical Models of Collective, Coherent
in the Earth and Ionospheric Resonant Cavity
Resonant
States
Our observations of frequency and time domain wave form similarity indicates the
need to formulate a more complex dispersion relationship than the usual ones. That
is, the relationship between wave number (or wavelength) and frequency is not of a
simple form, ie. one cannot use the simple relation
One can, however,
proceed from a dispersion relation and then derive specific wave equations for
specific applications. We proceed in an opposite manner and utilize our data,
interpreting it as wave form solutions to a wave equation and then deduce nonlinear
dispersion relations in which the leading order term is
The simultaneous occurrence of similar wave forms and frequencies over the globe
would indicate a large portion of, or even the Earth as a whole, has been set into
dynamic resonance by natural and man-made events. The existence of such electric
and magnetic waves indicates the presence of a local and global resonance. The
impulse waves observed and the on-off intermittency of the about 30 Hz and other
ELF signals, would indicate that one or more local resonator-generators are
245
activating very non-linear modes of oscillation in the Earth. Our data indicates that
a mechanical-electrical system or systems can activate normal complex modes of
oscillation in the earth and earth-ionospheric resonant cavity, some of which are
naturally occurring and some are artificially induced.
We proceed in one or more of three ways to determine a wave equation which
describes the observed generated wave forms. (1) One Way is to determine the
complex and perturbations-expansion dispersion relationship from which a generalized wave is derived. (2) Another way is to introduce the formation of a new
geometric space metric of more than four dimensions, which we term geomagnetic
space. The prefix Ge is determined from the Greek term for earth and leads to such
terms as geology or geography and geometry (earth measure). (3) A third procedure
is to present a generalized, nonlinear wave equation and its solution which appears to
fit the general form of the data.
Our experience with other electromagnetic and hydrodynamic systems leads us to
proceed in the third manner and set down a general nonlinear equation and its
solutions. The earth is a highly dynamic and enigmatic system whose origin and
detailed structure remain a mystery. It appears in general to be a structure of a
layered elastic sphere, as is evidenced by scattering of seismic waves by the
Gutenberg discontinuity between the earth's mantle and core. Discreteness of the
structure of the concentric zones appears to be due in part to different major
compositional components of the various layers such as the crust, mantle (upper and
lower) and core, resonantly locked together. The lithosphere, the stony outer
portion, is elastic and flexible as determined from ice and geologic materials which
show uplift and rebound. Temperature gradients produce convective processes
within the earth and associated seismic waves travel at from 7 to 8 km/sec.
The earth forms certain normal modes of oscillatory states which are a function of its
size, composition, inhomogeneties, elasticity, viscosity, capacitance etc. These
normal modes can be activated by natural phenomena, as we mentioned before, such
as volcanoes, meteorological activity, solar wind, etc. These states can also be
activated by artificial or man-made systems. For example, nuclear testing, power
line systems of 50 to 60 Hz, radio, television and other communications systems. A
vast amount of power is pumped into the earth-ionosphere resonant cavity primarily
during daytime and early evening hours on the sunlit hemisphere of the earth. Some
of these frequencies interact with the natural electromagnetic fields of the earth and
can either enhance or diminish these resonant modes. We strongly believe that the
current power grids and other electromagnetic radiation will prohibit the design and
use of the wireless energy system as Tesla perceived it. Certainly a system based on
Tesla's design would have to be modified to accommodate current developments
including aircraft travel and satellites.
There are some very striking and intriguing properties of soliton phenomena that
lead us to formulate a model of earth resonance in terms of a dispersive-nonlinear
wave equation having soliton-like solutions. The earth system is a media which has
elastic rebound properties or acts fluidly as observed by the continental drift, and
supports nonlinear coherent resonant wave modes that disperse, such as Love waves
(or S-wave or stress wave-like) and Rayleigh waves (or P-waves or pressure
wave-like) which can be activated from seismic adjustments. The earth acts as a
dynamic nonlinear resonator with dispersion. (See Appendix I and II)
We have made extensive measurements of some of these resonant modes which are
activated by man-made or other natural sources. Some of these modes may be self
sustaining soliton-like waves similar to the process suggested by Tesla. A soliton is
a pulse-like traveling wave solution of a linear dispersionless wave equation or a
nonlinear equation with dispersion. The basic form of soliton wave equations have
the classical wave equation as their leading order terms. If we have a linear
equation with dispersion, ie. the usual classical wave equation, no soliton waves will
246
occur as the Fourier components of any initial condition, and it will propagate at
variouss different velocities and as the interface of Fourier as components in which
energy will be lost. If nonlinearity is introduced without dispersion , again the
possibility of soliton wave modes does not occur since a continuous source of pulse
energy must be injected via harmonic generation into higher frequency modes. In
the time domain, we often see such phenomena as a shock wave, ie. a wave of
relatively short duration. Soliton waves can form with both dispersion and nonlinearity. The soliton wave can be quantitatively understood and interpreted as
representing a balance between the effect of the nonlinearity and of the dispersion
process. Phenomena amenable to this type of description involve nonlinear,
coherent resonant states with dispersive losses.
Examination of natural phenomena, such as sun spot activity, ball lightening,
hydrodynamic solitary waves and biological colonies including man, exhibit
self-organizing approximately "non-dispersive" processes.
These classes of phenomena that involve (1) non-linearity, (2) non-equilibrium, (3) coherent resonance
and (4) collective particle states, can be described as self-organizing and non-dispersive. These phenomena can involve solid, liquid, gas and plasma states of
matter-energy and can be mechanical and/or electrical (or electromagnetic, chemical
or biological) in nature.
The key element in such processes is that they do involve
dispersion (or diffusion) but that this dispersion (diffusion) is overcome and
recohered by the non-linear structure and or fields of the system under consideration.
A prime example is that of the hydrodynamic soliton phenomenon, well described by
the Korteweg-deVries equation developed in 1895 to describe the observations of
John Scott Russel in 1834.
These equations describe phenomena which is dispersive in the third order derivative
in space,
rather than the usual wave equation, which is dispersive in the
which is "balanced" by the nonlinear term of the form
second order in space,
where U is a wave function amplitude dependent on space and time.
There are also quantum analogies to this classical equation such as the sine-Gordon
equation.
We have examined the structure and form of soliton equations applicable to a wide
variety of physical, chemical and biological systems and demonstrate how these
equations relate to the usual wave equation.
where co is the velocity of the wave amplitude, U, and we have the usual dispersion
relation for k = v/co for wave number k and frequency v. Each non-linear equation
which exhibits a soliton wave-like solution has a different associated dispersion
relation. We have presented ample examples of natural phenomena that exhibit
these properties and demonstrate the application of these theoretical models to
describing geologic phenomena [34,36].
We will now discuss the soliton model for the development of possible efficient
energy devices. Although these devices will not violate the second law of
thermodynamics, they are highly efficient and utilize some of the available ambient
energy as efficient energy converters [37].
In deriving the form of a generalized nonlinear wave equation, one can usually
proceed from a general dispersion relation where in the wave equations the
dispersion term is independent of the nonlinear aspect. This method has its
limitations when the above condition does not hold, ie. these terms are interrelated
such as in the sine-Gordon equation, the method breaks down and becomes
cumbersome to use.
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
Planetary magnetic field organize ionized matter. The resulting magnetospheres are
unique domains or "cells" of plasma that are semi-isolated and considerably d iff er en t
from neighboring plasma regions.
The earth's magnetosphere and that of other
planets are affected by planetary rotation and ionic flows from the sun and its
rotational dynamics and we suspect that the diurnal cosmic bombardment also plays
a significant magnetospheric role.
Co-rotational plasma flows, production of plasma
waves, radio emissions, and ion acceleration of thermal electrons to hundreds of
MeV occur within the magnetospheres. Plasma processes can involve the usual
plasma instabilities related to ionic interaction with the earth's magnetic lines of
force.
Primary driving forces of magnetospheric features involve the solar wind (and its.
induced changes from solar flare processes) and the earth's rotation (including the
steady state magnetic field as well as disturbances within this field due to the earth's
physical "adjustments" such as seismic activity and volcanoes). Planetary and
stellar magnetic fields are believed to organize ionized matter in stellar and galactic
systems.
The deformation of the earth's magnetosphere occurs as the solar wind (an intenal
expansion of the solar corona) interacts and mixes with the intrinsic magnetic field
generated by or intrinsic 3 to the earth. The solar wind at the -8earth's orbit
has an ion
density of about 10 ions/cm with an energy density of a few times 10 dynes/cm2.
Some General Comments on Theoretical Prediction of Seismic and
Volcanic Activity: Research Conducted 1979-1990
Our data and records indicate that earthquakes and volcanic activity seem to be able
to be modified by sunspot/solar flare activity and cycles in a manner similar to the
effect of tidal action (caused by the gravitational pull of the moon) except that this
sunspot/solar flare/earth interaction produces electromagnetic activity in the earth
environment. Weather processes also appear to depend on solar cycle patterns. As
is known, sunspot magnetic "storm" activity produces changes in the solar wind
The heavy particle interaction with the ionosphere produces charged state changes
within the E layer and other charged layers of the atmosphere which creates induced
magnetic fields. These fields and current flows interact with, affect, modify and
perturb the earth's "steady state" magnetic field. As the lines of force of the earth
are affected and "wiggled," the core mantle interface is affected. Extreme effects
produce energy releases in the form of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Upper
atmospheric effects can drive the jet streams and modify their paths and structures
and thus affect the weather. Concurrent with major seismic and volcanic occurrences is the production of lightning which also affects weather. As is well known,
increased atmospheric gases and participate matter can affect global weather
patterns.
Large earthquakes can also "wiggle" the lines of force of the earth's magnetic field
and hence, in turn, affect ionosphere ionization states, thus affecting weather and
other reverberatory seismic modes of excitation. Lightning strokes and piezoelectric
releases in rocks in the earth produce electromagnetic field spike-like impulses
which are measurable with suitable instrumentation. All these phenomena produce
characteristic electromagnetic wave signatures which we can and do record and
analyze.
Earthquake tables containing predicted location and estimated magnitude can be
constructed in a manner analogous to tide tables. Predictions of possible volcanic
activity can also be generated. These and other data might also be utilized to
generate long term weather profiles.
254
Conclusion
The earth and the life forms upon its surface vibrate and resonate in harmony in such
a manner that radiant energy from the sun and materials and vibrations of the earth
support this life and its evolution. Some of the major normal oscillatory modes of
the earth are in the 9-13 Hz range which, interestingly enough, is about the power
spectrum peaking for most people's alpha frequency.
It is clear that we depend on "Mother Earth" for our life, but whether, in some sense,
the earth itself depends on the life forms on its lands and in its seas and atmosphere,
is another matter; ie. is there a symbiosis between the earth and the life it supports?
We know that man can create great changes, some of which have polluted the air,
land, streams and seas with chemicals, radioactivity and electromagnetic waves.
Some changes wrought by man can be repaired by the earth but others may not be so
easily repaired. The question of why man should pollute his life support system
continues to go unanswered. Some of the electromagnetic waves generated by man
may have global significance for the earth and the life forms upon it.
In this project and in this paper, we have explored the earth's magnetic field
emanations, those that are natural and those activated by man. There are a multitude
of natural modes, such as the earth's mechanical rotation, seismic activity, volcanoes, solar wind and solar broadband noise activity and many others.
Also impressed upon the environment are many man-made sources disturbing both
the atmosphere and the earth. Some of these emissions may be reaping irreparable
damage to the ionosphere and earth which, in turn, threatens our very existence. We
must examine what we are doing as people, as societies and as nations!. If we do
not develop a new consciousness and awareness, destruction of life will inevitably
result.
When the earth and the life upon it is in harmony, the system is mutually life
enhancing. Man has (or has had) great abilities and potentials and yet, most of his
recent technologies have been to strip nature away from us—to shield us from nature,
to "conquer" and control her while designing ever more dangerous weapons systems
with which to more efficiently strip all life from the planet. We must examine why
man has moved toward such insane motivation, toward mutual destruction and
whether mutual life enhancement and sanity can again become the noble objective of
pursuit which desperately need implementation today.
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the assistance of Harold Faretto in helping us with some of
the measurements and engineering work on TRL projects and thanks to Hal Treacy
for his assistance in providing us some necessary equipment for TRL projects.
255
Fundamental Excitatory Modes of the Earth and Earth-Ionosphere Resonant Cavity
APPENDIX
I
Measurements Of Seismic Precursor Excitation Modes
Earth mechanical or seismic oscillations produce longitudinal excitations in the earth
itself. These oscillations produce local and global disturbances which involve local
field coupling which perturb the earth's global steady-state magnetic field. The
seismic excitations produce pressure and stress waves which have acoustic components as well as "wiggle" the Earth's lines of force producing a magnetic fluctuation
component. These acoustic and magnetic components are related, albeit, in a
complex manner. The magnetic field oscillations associated with seismic and
volcanic activity all lie at the low end of the EMR spectrum (0.3 to 300 Hz). Also,
the associated acoustic modes lie in a similar frequency range to that of the ELF
activity.
As we have explained elsewhere, ELF magnetic field oscillations have transverse as
well as longitudinal modes of excitation and the longitudinal modes appear to be
acoustic-like, at least as considered in "four space." Most of the earth-activated ELF
modes are non-sine wave-like, having a number of Fourier components.
Figure 1. Typical frequency and time domains of magnetic field oscillations which are
dominated by the approximately 30 Hz signal. The about 1.56 Hz signal heterodynes
with the 30 Hz signal as seen in the time domain. Most of the frequencies below
about
11
Hz
are
natural
geologic
and
atmospheric
oscillations.
The 0.4 Hz is the Earth's fundamental magnetic rotational component and the 1.56
Hz is its standard rotational vector and the 3.0 to 3.2 Hz magnetic pulsation
component is the seismic precursor signal.
The 5.5 to 5.9 Hz signal is usually associated with excitation in the ionospheric D
layer and the 9.2 Hz signal appears associated with heavy particle interactions from
solar flare activity bombarding the ionosphere. Frequencies of 12 Hz and above are
primarily from man-made sources. The 17 and 18.5 Hz are from the air conditioner
compressor near the building where the data was recorded and disappeared when
the air conditioner was shut off. The 30 Hz signal with 28.25 Hz side lobes is
probably a spurious emission of Project ELF.
256
Precursor frequencies of magnetic field oscillations, observed before the onset of
seismic activity, are usually the third and fourth harmonic of the earth's rotational
excitation. The difference between the earth's steady state magnetic field and the
earth ' s mechanical rotational axis is 22.5 degrees at the poles. Hence, the first
oscillation of the actual rotational vector is 0.4 Hz (= 3.14 x 360/22.5). The second
harmonic is 0.8 Hz and the third harmonic is 1.6 (more precisely, 1.56 for the
nonlinear progression) and around 3.16 to 3.2 is the fourth harmonic. [45]
As the earth rotates, the Coriolis force is stored in the earth's body. We observe this
energy storage as a build-up of a magnetic signal of about 3.16 to 3.2 Hz. From
about 24 to 72 hours before an impending event, the approximately 3.2 Hz signal
disappears. Triangulation on the maximum magnetic amplitude of the 3.2 Hz signal
is used to locate the future or impending event If the 3.2 signal reappears within the
72-hour time frame, then the time line starts running again for another 24 to 72
hours.
The 1.56 Hz signal is almost always present and, from this signal which we term
rotational vector, we can estimate the magnitude of the future event. The percentage of deviation from the normal value of the rotational vector gives an approximate
magnitude, depending also upon the distance from the measurement instrumentation
and the epicenter of the impending event.
We observe a range of "rotational vector" values between 1.26 Hz and 1.80 Hz. The
smaller the deviation from the normal value of the rotational vector, the smaller the
quake will be. The deviation of the rotational vector is proportional to the
impending quake magnitude. For example, 1.26 Hz or 1.80 Hz can be associated
with over 6.5 to 7 on the Richter scale depending on the distance from the detection
point to the site of the impending event.
Figure 2. Again a typical display of natural magnetic frequency emissions is given in the
"geologic frequency range." Both Figure 1 and Figure 2 data were collected from
the vertical orientation of the coil antenna.
257
258
The T-1050 magnetic field detector has a series of amplifying, smoothing elements
and notch filters which make for flat response from 0.1 to 50,000 Hz for magnetic
field strengths only detection with a sensitivity of about 10 -6 Gauss for the high pass
-10
circuit ; 0.1 to 200 Hz for the low pass circuit with a sensitivity of 0.5 x 10 Gauss.
figure 4. In the 0 to 100 Hz range with 60 Hz notch filters to notch out the 60 Hz, we see the
spurious side bands of 30.5 and 89.5 Hz from the center band of 70 to 76 Hz for
Project ELF. The 30 Hz signal is nearly always larger than the 89.5 signal since it
lies near one of the Earth's rotational resonant frequencies. In earlier measurements there were also some effects of coil roll-off.
259
260
261
Maxwell's equations are only approximately valid in the ELF region when coil
emitters and sensors are utilized and the results plotted by means of oscilloscopes
and spectrum analyzers.
Gauge invariant conditions are modified in the frequency
range of ELF. [44]
We present examples of frequency and time domain measurements which lend
support to the statements we have just delineated.
Figure 1 shows the unusual
relationship of a typical sine wave and its representation in the frequency and time
domain.
Figure 2 is an example of the serpentine-like appearance of the "Russian
Woodpecker" in the frequency domain as demodulated by a spectrum analysis.
Shown are the 10 Hz pulses on a high frequency "carrier."
Figure 3 is a representation of a magnetic field measurement of about a 30 Hz signal
gathered with a coil detection system and displayed on an oscilloscope in the time
domain. Although the frequencies are 10 and 30 Hz respectively, the ELF region of
interest that they occupy are close enough to note that both of these displays are
highly similar and serpentine-like, implying a comparative measurement in the
frequency domain; and time domain at higher frequencies do not exist at ELF.
The trace in Figure 4 is generated as a mechanical model of soliton waves generated
by the sine-Gordon equation which has periodic soliton solutions. Note the
similarity to Figure 3 which is a magnetic signal observed with the T-1050 displayed
in the time domain at about 31.5 Hz which can be decomposed into a 30 Hz signal
heterodyned with a 1.5 Hz rotational vector. The amplitude is 2 volts/division for a
one second trace. Pulse modulation at 3.33 Hz was observed. Normally one would
describe this signal as a Heterodyne of 30 Hz and 1.5 Hz but the rotational wave
characteristics are better seen in the nonrailed signal in Figure 3, the second trace.
The signal in the top trace in Figure 3 is actually a slice in two dimension from a
rotational wave in five dimensions or five dimensional rotor or screw wave which is
like a five dimensional twister algebra related to a four dimensional spinor calculus.
In Figure 5 is a five dimensional representation of this screw or rotational wave. To
represent it in a two dimensional figure on flat paper, we consider amplitude as a
function of x only rather than x,y and z. The other variables of the wave amplitude
are time, t, and frequency, where
This figure can
for
but
explain the observation seen in Figure 2 and 3 and a great deal of other similar data
with the model of the multidimensional soliton wave. Figure 6 is a schematic
space which moves like a "slinky"
representation of the tube-like waveform in
toy. The "slinky" coils represent the Fourier of the magnetic field and can be seen
as the wave with spikes in space and time.
Simple solutions to solitary wave equations can be found in terms of the usual conic
section form of the trigonometric functions of sines and cosines built on the
relationship to the sphere.
Simple second order equations generate parabolic and
hyperparabolic forms x2 +- y2 = c as contour integration of exponential functions in
the complex plane z = x + iy for
We will examine the properties of Fourier and Laplace transforms and Lorentz
invariants conditions and relate these to Gausses' theorem.
Consider a simple description of the waveforms and their relationship and the
frequency and time domain to generate Figure 5. Consider the simple case where
the cross-sectional area of the volume generated by and swept out in the frequency
and time domain in circular so that more forms observed in the frequency and time
domains appear the same. Also consider the envelope on the curve as seen as
extended oscillation, in their amplitude dependence or frequency and time, obey sine
waves such as x = sin (t/t0) and x = sin (f/f0) contained under the envelope of the
curve. Note that in general, the five dimensional travelling wave can be elliptical,
having different "periods" or extensions in time and frequency, for example, the
262
263
See reference 9 for a more detailed description of the model and its application to
geophysical and other magnetic flux phenomena.
Figure 5. In this figure is displayed a symbolic representation of the rotational or twister wave
in five dimensional space.
Figure 6.
Representation of the Fourier components of an ELF wave in a Five Dimension
Space in which the frequency and time domain appear to be similar to each other.
References & Footnotes
[1] W. V. Bise. "New Method of Presensing and Monitoring Volcanic Activity at Mt Saint
Helens, Washington," Planetary Association for Clean Energy 2:2; page 9, May
1980.
|2] W. V. Bise. "A Week in the Magnetic Life of Mt. St. Helens," Planetary Association
for Clean Energy 2:3; page 10, July-August 1980.
265
[3] W. V. Bise. "Magnetic ELF Comparisons with Acoustic Measurements on Mt. St.
Helens" Planetary Association/or Clean Energy 3:1: page 26, June 1981.
[4] W.L. Van Bise and E.A. Rauscher. "Instrumentation and Techniques for Analysis of
Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Magnetic Field Impulses Proceeding Geologic
Events," Bull. American Physics Society 32,67, 1987; PSRL-17630AJ, October 1986,
TRL Report, San Leandro, CA. 94579
[5] E.A. Rauscher and W.L. Van Bise. "Obaervations of Local and Global Earth
Ionospheric Excitations for Earthquake and Volcanic Predictions," Bull. Am. Phys.
Soc. 32,67,1987; PSRL 17741, October 1986, TRL Report SAn Leandro, CA. 94579
[6] W.V. Bise and E.A. Rauscher: "Non-superconducting Systems for Detecting and
Analyzing Low Intensity Pure Magnetic Fields." Tecnic Reearch Laboratories Report,
published in Bull Am Phys Soc, Volume 34, p. 109, 1989.
[7] W.V. Bise and E.A. Rauscher: "Geomagnetic Pulsations of the Earth's Magnetosphere." Tecnic Reearch Laboratories Report, PSRL-24125 (1987).
[8] N. Tesla, Patent No. 787,412. April 18, 1905. "Act of Transmitting Electrical
Energy Through the Natural Medium" and related patents and papers.
[9] E.A. Rauscher. "Application of Soliton Physics to Plasma-MHD and Super Conducting BCS: Theoretical Implications for Primary Energy." PSRL-3107, TRL Report,
November 1982.
[10] E.A. Rauscher. "Electron Interaction and Quantum Plasma Physics," J. Plasma
Physics 2, 517 (1968).
[11] E.A. Rauscher. "Quantized Plasmas" Bull. Amer. Phys. Soc. 15, 1639 (1970).
[12] E.A. Rauscher. "Nonlinear Coherent Modes in MHD-Plasmas," Bull. Am. Phys. Soc.
21,1337(1983).
[13] N. Tesla, The Colorado Springs Notes, published by J. Ratliff, The Tesla Publishing
Company, Milbrae, CA 1980.
[14] E.A. Rauscher and W. Van Bise, "Geologic Significance of the Fundamental
Excitatory Modes of the Earth and Earth-Ionosphere Resonant Cavity," PSRL -70253,
January 1986.
[15] E.A. Rauscher commuted daily to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory on Tesla Avenue
from early 1966 to end of 1969.
[16] E.A. Rauscher, "A Unifying Theory of Fundamental Processes," UCRL 20808, June
1971, University of California LBL Press.
[17] E.A. Rauscher and W. Van Bise, "Multiple Wave Analysis Measurements at Low
Frequency (LF) and Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Artificial and Natural Radiation," Pac. NW Center for the Study of Non-Ionizing Radiation Report. Portland,
Oregon, September 1980.
[18] Project ELF, formerly refered to as Project Sanguine and Project Seafarer, is reviewed
in several issues of Aviation Week and Space Technology and also J.R. Waite "Project
Sanguine," Science 178, 272 (1972).
[19] Nikola Tesla: Lectures. Patents. Articles. Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Nikola Tesla Museum, 1956.
[20] K.M.Swezey, "Nikola Tesla," Science 122, 1147,1958.
[21] M. Sugiara and J.P. Heppner, "Electric and Magnetic Fields in the Earth's Environment," American Institue of Physics Handbook. McGraw-Hill Book Company. 1972;
Section 5 pages 265-303.
[22] N. Tesla. "The Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires," Electrical World and
Engineer. New York: March 5, 1904.
[23] M.M. Frocht, "Experimental Stress Analysis," Handbook of Physics. McGraw-Hill
Book Company, 2nd edition, Part 3, Chapter 6, page 84.
[24] E.V. Condon "Molecular Optics," Part 6, Chapter 6, page 117.
266
[25] J. A S i l v a and G. Lochak. Quanta. New York: McGraw-Hill Books Company 1969.
(page 1969)
[26] F.M. Lowry, Optical Rotary Power, London: Longman's, Green & Co, 1935.
|27]
E.V.Condon,
"Electromagnetic
Waves,"
Part
6,
Chapter
7,
page
5.
[28] H.B. Callen, "The Energy Band Theory of Solids, Part 8, Chapter 8, page 24.
[29] J.C. Anderson, Magnetism and Magnetic Materials: London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.
1968; Page 199.
[30] E.A. Rauscher "Properties of Nonlinear Coherent Modes in MHD Plasmas and a
Possible Solution of the Plasma Combinent Problem," Proceedings of the Tesla
Centennial Symposium (An IEEE Centennial Activity) Editor, E.A. Rauscher, Tesla
1984.
[31] E.A. Rauscher, "Solitary Waves, Coherent Nondispersive Solutions in Complex
Minkowski Spaces," Bull. Amer. Phys. Soc. 27 135 (1982).
[32]
C.
Rebbi,
"Solitons,"
Scientific
American;
page
92,
February
1979.
[33] Aviation Week and Space Technology, page 19, Nov. 8 ,1976.
[34] E.A. Rauscher and W. Van Bise, "Non-Superconducting Apparatus for Detecting
Magnetic and Electromagnetic Fields." Patent No. 4,724,390, Issued February 1988.
[35] E.A. Rauscher, W. Van Bise, and H.J. Faretto: "Field survey measurement of the
ambient ELF-VLF-LF frequencies and intensities at the Kalish Ranch site and
surrounding areas, Kirkland Arizona." Tecnic Reearch Laboratories Report,
PSRL-27643, August 1987.
[36] E.A. Rauscher, "Theoretical Examination of Nonlinear Far From Equilibrium Self-Organizing Phenomena," TRL Report PSRL-103764, Abstract March 1985, Presented at
the USPA. July 1985, Dayton, Ohio.
[37] A.C. Scott, "Active and Non-Linear Wave Propagation," Electronics, 1985.
[38] W. Van Bise, "Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Radio and Magnetic Signals-New
Biologic Clues in the Pacific Northwest Environment," N.W. Center for the Study of
Man-Ionizing Radiation Report, Feb 1980, Portland, OR.
[39] J. Beal and E.A. Rauscher, "Modern Science Reads the Earth's Electromagnetic
Fields," Invited paper at the University of California at Davis, Symposium co-sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Natural Systems, September 10,1988.
[40] C. Ramon and E.A. Rauscher, "Super-Luminal Transformations in Complex
Minkowski Spaces," Found of Physics 10,661 (1980)
[41] E.A. Rauscher Paper in The Frontiers of Physics (Iceland Conference Proceedings,
Reyjavik, Iceland) B.D. Josephson and A. Puharich, Editors, Essentia Research
Associates.
[42] E.A. Rauscher, "Complex Coordinate Geometries in General Relativity and Electromagnetism," Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 23, 84 (1978).
[43] E.A. Rauscher, "Electromagnetic and Non-Linear Phenomena in Complex Minkowski
Spaces," Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 2£, 351 (1983).
[44] Detailed analysis of a variety of wave equations with oscillatory solutions is in
progress using an iterative procedure in which multi-frequency and multi-time analysis
is made with the computer code CORF AC in FORTRAN IV, IBM Compatible. An
update version is in progress.
[45] E.A. Rauscher, "The Earth's Coriolis Force as an Energy Storage and Release
Mechanism for Mediating Seismic Activity," ONR Grant through the University of
California, Berkeley for (1) modeling systems using multidimensional geometries (2)
Modeling seismic activity (1970-1974)
267
[46] After we hypthothesized our five-dimensional modeling a device was developed and
marketed that could measure events in the time-frequency domain called the modulation domain.
The Hewlett-Packard HP5371A, frequency and time interval analyzer
was introduced in 1988 and is a very important instrument for analysis of seismic
activity as a readout from the T-1050 Detector, as well as other uses.
[47] E.A. Rauscher and W. Van Bise, "Relaxation of guge invariant conditions for ELF and
VLF phenomena and their implications for magnetic and electromagnetic wave
transmission." Tccnic Research Laboratories Report, published in Bull Am Phys SOC.
34, p. 82,1989.
About the Authors:
Dr. Elizabeth Rauscher received her BS, MS and PhD from the University of California
Berkley in Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Science and Cosmological Models. Dr.
Rauscher's main fields of research include nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmological
models, plasma physics, biomedical engineering, and geophysical monitoring. In addition to
publishing over 100 papers and 4 books, Dr. Rauscher co-founded Technic RESEARCH
Laboratories
William Van Bise is a biomedical engineer with degrees Tulane University and the Oregon
Health Sciences University School of Medicine, including doctoral studies at the Oregon
Graduate Center. A member of IEEE, ICWA, and AAAS, he has considerable background in
biomedical instrumentation design.
(Together they hold US patents #4,724,390, #4,723,536, and #4,889,526. The first patent
'390 is a non-superconducting ELF amplifier that triangulates the location of a pending
earthquake, based on the well-known ELF signals that the piezoelectric rock emits while
stressed, just before the impending movement we call "an earthquake." It is a masterful work
that I highly recommend for those who want to learn more about the earth Schumann cavity,
earthquake detection, and ELF waves, while being very readable and comprehensive. The
USGS could be using the Rauscher/Van Bise invention to warn Californians, for example,
before any major earthquake. Some of the patent content is discussed on p. 233-234 of this
book. - Ed. note)
Elizabeth Rauscher and William Van Bise can be reached at Tecnic Research Labs, 3500 S.
Tomahawk, Bldg. 188, Apache Junction, AZ 85219 and BVR@uswest.net
268
SECTION III
Miscellaneous Tesla Articles
and Reference Material
Tesla amazingly seated at the base of a huge coil in action with remarkable symmetry at Colorado
Springs without any concern for the lightning he is creating. The fir tree at the top supports his
antenna. "By providing a sort of roof, I get on the under side a support on which the electrical
density is nothing, and then the support is absolutely safe, even in rain, because it keeps dry, and it is
always in contact with a conducting surface of low electric density." — Nikola Tesla, quoted in
Anderson, Nikola Tesla on His Work with Alternating Currents
269
15
The Homopolar Generator:
Tesla's Contribution
Renrinted from Proceedings of the International Tesla Symposium. 1986
Thomas Valone, M.A., P.E.
"The One-Piece Faraday Generator" is now published as the book, The Homopolar
Handbook. The Forbes 1888 dynamo, with like poles at each end of the rotating armature
magnet and opposite pole in the center (U.S. patent #338,169), simplified current extraction
in a manner similar to Tesla's two-disk concept described below. - Ed. note
Abstract
With the continued interest in Faraday or homopolar generators, it is good to review
Tesla's experiments in this field. Tesla proposed several methods for increasing the
output of the generator, including the "current accumulator." In this paper, the range
of homopolar generators Tesla experimented, the Forbes Unipolar generator and my
work on the one-piece homopolar generator will be discussed. We will look at why
Tesla believed that he could build a self-sustaining dynamo.
Introduction
This paper will center on a very simple but very intriguing device rhat is a model of
he planet earth (see Figure I). It's the unipolar, acyclic, or homopolar generator
which is also referred to as a "Faraday disk dynamo" after Michael Faraday who
discovered it in 1831. (Hence, the title of my book. The One-Piece Faraday
Generator, available through High Energy Enterprises, PO Box 5636, Security, CO
80911) Note the self-sustaining nature of the earth model that's presented in the
following Scientific American article. (For your convenience, the article, "Modeling Magnetism: The earth as a dynamo," by S. Weisburd is reprinted in full.)
[Science News, V.128, p.220, 1985] They are describing an unusual mechanism of
the earth which pumps current in a spiral manner strengthening the magnetic field, as
described by Tesla in the following pages. (This could have great significance for a
new, liquid metal Homopolar Generator if someone wants to try a novel approach.
The article says, "F.H. Busse proved that by virtue of the dynamo action of the fluid
motions, the magnetic field could increase substantially from a small initial
valae"-p,124). It appears to be a "free energy" device, with no dissipative effects,
but the theory, as well as my experiment, has shown that a one-piece homopolar
generator should exhibit back torque. Therefore the earth should be slowing down
quite noticeably. However, it's not appreciably slowing, so there must be a method
nature uses to avoid the back torque.
Modeling Magnetism: The earth as a dynamo
In 1600 William Gilbert, the physician of Queen Elizabeth I published a treatise
on magnetism called De Magnete, in which he dispelled the notion that
lodestones are attracted to heavenly bodies. Instead, he concluded from an
experiment with a spherical lodestone that the earth itself is a giant magnet.
Centuries passed before scientists developed any reasonable ideas as to what
causes this geomagnetism. The main, dipolar part of the earth's field clearly
resembles that produced by a bar magnet. But it has become apparent that the
field could not arise from permanently magnetized minerals in the earth. Most
of the earth is too hot for such materials to retain their magnetism for long, and
in order to create all of the changes observed in the magnetic field, solid
magnets would have to scurry around within the earth--an impossible feat that
would result in massive upheavals of the planet. Moreover, earthquake data
indicate that the outer region of the core is a fluid.
271
Scientists believe this outer core is a rotating liquid made principally of molten
iron and nickel, which conduct electricity. This view of the core has led to the
only surviving idea out of many theories (including the notion, once considered
and then dropped by Albert Einstein and others, that magnetism is an inherent
property of all rotating masses).
Forty years ago Walter M. Elsasser at the University of California at San Diego
and Edward C. Bullard of the University of Cambridge in England developed
the "self-exciting dynamo" model for the core. The illustration below ...
[Figure 1]... stews a simple example of a dynamo invented by the 19th century
British scientist Michael Faraday. When the metal disk spins in the initial
presence of a magnetic field, currents are generated in the disk. In a seif-excit
ing dynamo, these currents are fed into a solenoid, or coil, which creates a
magnetic field of its own.
If the spinning fluids of the earth's outer core act like the disk in the dynamo,
the earth could similarly produce a large magnetic field, provided there was a
small magnetic field around at the beginning. (The small field that pervades the
galaxy would be a good candidate, according to some scientists.) Another
provision would be that the core fluids keep moving, and the unanswered
question here is what energy source is responsible for doing just that.
Of course, the actual core movements must be considerably different from and
much more complex than a spinning disk. So the present focus of research is to
devise complicated flow patterns consistent with the magnetic field's behavior-its reversals, secular variations and now possibly the jerk.
Figure 1. In this self-sustaining Faraday disk dynamo, an electric current (small
arrows) in the copper disk reinforces the magnetic field of the coil (from
"The Source of the Earth's Magnetic Field" by Scientific American, 1979).
272
Another interesting aspect of the earth as a unipolar generator (the title of another
hournal article) is the electromotive voltage that is produced in the rotating armature.
Faraday thought it would be measurable in the rotating reference frame. He looked
for a voltage in rivers and streams. My experiments with a small LED voltmeter,
described in my book, show that no voltage is measurable in the rotating environment. The reason is that (see Figure 2) there is an equal and opposite electrostatic
field created when a charge displacement is induced by the Lorentz force. This
essentially maintains a neutral environment on the disk, even during sizable current
flow, that will act as a voltage regulator. I could measure a voltage across the
rotating disk in the stationary lab frame but my LED voltmeter could not measure
e v e n a millivolt when one hundred times that was present in the lab frame. In other
words, we can't draw power from the earth's homopolar generator while rotating
with it.
Figure 2. Charges displace until equilibrium is established. Fields cancel
within a disk. This explains why a constant voltage will be maintained
across the disk even during high current output.
In calculate the voltage generated with an homopolar generator (Figure 3), we find
that the equation depends upon the magnetic flux density, rotational speed, and the
radius of the di.sk squared. The internal resistance is the only thing that limits the
power output of the device. It is important to note also, before going on with the
aspects that relate to Tesla's article, that all of the recent experiments that have
reported anomalous effects have all been done with the one-piece Faraday generator,
the one with the magnet rotating with the disk. (Dr. Stephan Marinov, on p. A-73 of
273
274
This article of Tesla's is reprinted in its entirety in the Appendix of my book,
The One-Piece Faradav Generator.} For your convenience, key portions are excerpted for reference throughout this paper.
The general design, shown in Figure 4, is discussed in the first portions of Tesla's
article, (also reprinted in Inventions. Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesia. by
Thomas C. Martin). "... such a machine (the homopolar generator) differs from
ordinary dynamos in that there is no reaction between armature and field." It is a key
sentence which Tesla qualifies by limiting the circumstance to magnets that are
weakly energized.
Figure 4. Tesla's Design:
Coupling two homopolar generators together for
higher output and better brush conductivity.
In my experimentation with strong (almost 1 Tesla field strength) ceramic magnets
mounted on a copper disk, I was able to measure the reaction between the disk
(armature) and field which is technically labelled "back torque" (the force which
slows down the spinning disk when current is drawn from it). We can ask, "How
does the one-piece homopolar generator experience back torque when there is no
stator, only a rotor?" The best explanation that I could come up with when I
measured it is the following: The electrons in the armature (disk) current push
against the magnetic field, not the magnet, causing the reaction force. By the way,
it's just the radial component of the current that contributes to the back torque,
according to the traditional methods for applying the torque equation.
275
Tesla, however describes it as a reaction between the magnetic field set up by the
armature current and the electromagnet's coil current. This is probably equivalent to
the equation of torque (T) being equal to the current density crossed with the
magnetic flux density (JxB). He also notes another aspect of the generator that is a
key to reducing back torque, the symmetry of the external circuit:
... Considered as a dynamo machine, the disc is an equally interesting object of
study. In addition to its peculiarity of giving currents of one direction without
the employment of commutating devices, such a machine differs from ordinary
dynamos in that there is no reaction between armature and field. The armature
current tends to set up a magnetization at right angles to that of the field
current, but since the current is taken off uniformly from all points of the
periphery, and since, to be exact, the external circuit may also be arranged
perfectly symmetrical to the field magnet, no reaction
can
occur. This
however, is true only as long as the magnets are weakly energized, for when the
magnets are more or less saturated, both magnetizations at right angles
seemingly interfere with each other.
For the above reason alone it would appear that the output of such a machine
should, for the same weight, be much greater than that of any other machine in
which the armature current tends to demagnetize the field. The extraordinary
output of the Forbes unipolar dynamo and the experience of the writer confirm
this view...
Symmetrical External Circuit
We note that Tesla refers to the "external circuit" which is made to be "perfectly
symmetrical" to reduce the reaction to zero. This was a popular notion, which still
may have profound significance. Adam Trombly, the builder of the most successful
"over-unity" hornopolar generator in recent history, also emphasized to me the
symmetry of the external circuit in his design in order to reduce back torque). It is
believed, according to the theory noted by G.W. Howe in The Electrician. (Nov. 5,
1915, p. 169), and others, that the torque or "reaction" in a unipolar generator, that
tends to slow down or retard its motion (and thus keep its efficiency less than 100%)
is due to the interaction between the magnetic flux and the current-carrying
conductors in the external circuit. Our present theory only looks at the armature
current and the magnetic field but this aspect of the force may be the neglected part.
The next section refers to the eddy currents that are set up in the disk with external
symmetry. They tend to magnetize the field, which is a beneficial effect. A disk
without external symmetry pulling current off from one spot (like my generator, to a
great extent) will tend not to contribute to reinforcing the field.
It's interesting to note that Howe also published an article 37 years later entitled "A
Novel Form of D.C. Motor" (Wireless Engineer. Nov. 1952, p.285) in which a spiral
path hornopolar generator is described. It was subsequendy built by Ku and Kamal a
short time later (see J. Franklin Inst.. v.258, 1954, p.7) and tested.
Tesla also notes in the next paragraph that in all other motors and generators "the
armature current tends to demagnetize the field" which may be greatly reduced in his
design of a unique Faraday generator.
Beneficial Eddy Currents
The next illustration (Figure 5) of a unipolar dynamo with relatively small magnets
demonstrates a principle that Tesla wishes to exploit. He points out that path "n"
will tend to predominate because the current will choose the path "which offers the
276
least opposition." He believes that the currents in such a generator tend to reinforce
the magnetic field and may even "continue to flow" when the field magnet is turned
off (assuming electromagnets).
Figure 5. General schematic of a homopolar generator.
... In consequence of this there will be a constant tendency to reduce the current
flow in the path A B' m B, while on the other hand no such opposition will
exist in path AB'nB, and the effect of the latter branch or path will be more or
less preponderating over that of the former. The joint effect of both the
assumed branch currents might be represented by that of one single current of
the same direction as that energizing the field. In other words, the eddy
currents circulating in the disc will energize the field magnet. This is a result
quite contrary to what we might be led to suppose at first, for we would
naturally expect that the resulting effect of the armature currents would be such
as to oppose the field current, as generally occurs when a primary and
secondary conductor are placed in inductive relations to each other. But it must
be remembered that this results from the peculiar disposition in this case,
namely, two paths being afforded to the current, and the latter selecting that
path which offers the least opposition to its flow. From this we see that the
eddy currents flowing in the disc partly energize the field, and for this reason
when the field current is interrupted the currents in the disc will continue to
277
flow , and the field magnet will lose its strength with comparative slowness and
may even retain a certain strength as long as the rotation of the disc is
continued...
... If the latter [disc] were rotated as before in the direction of the arrow D, the
field would be dragged in the same direction with a torque, which, up to a
certain point, would go on increasing with the speed of rotation, then fall off,
and, passing through zero, finally become negative; that is, the field would
begin to rotate in opposite direction to the disc. In experiments with alternate
current motors in which the field was shifted by currents of differing phase, this
interesting result was observed. For very low speeds of rotation of the field the
motor would show a torque of 900 lbs, or more, measured on a pulley 12 inches
in diameter. When the speed of rotation of the poles was increased, the torque
would diminish, would finally go down to zero, become negative, and then the
armature would begin to rotate in opposite direction to the field.
Tesla notes further on that this effect depends upon the "resistance, speed of rotation,
and the geometrical dimensions of the resulting eddy currents," He then suggests
that "at a certain speed there would be a maximum energizing effect," presenting the
intriguing notion that the field is being dragged in the same direction as the rotation
of the disk until a maximum is reached where the field would tend to reverse as the
rotation speed is increased. He is proposing here that there is a phase relationship
between the field concentric to a conducting disk, as illustrated by a split phase AC
motor analogy. We will see shortly an illustration with solid and dotted spiral lines
on a disk which demonstrates Tesla's "phase" relationship. Depending upon the
direction of the spiraling eddy currents, clockwise (path "n") or counter-clockwise
(path "m"), the magnetic field will tend to be in the same direction as the external
magnetic field or opposing it. Thus it is reasonable to assume that as the disk
increases speed, the current may start out spiraling, say, in a clockwise manner
reinforcing the external field, and then reverse to a counterclockwise spiral as the
speed increases. A good computer simulation of the variables involved would reveal
this relationship and may suggest, as Tesla does, an optimum speed of operation for
self-generation.
Another article that reinforces Tesla's ideas is "A Laboratory Self-Exciting Dynamo"
by Lowes and Wilkinson, reprinted in Magnetism and the Cosmos, in 1965, by
NATO Advanced Study Institute on Planetary and Stellar Magnetism in the
Departments of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
On page 124, they mention that "a more efficient geometry was found, so efficient
that the dynamo would self-excite in a completely homogeneous state (i.e. with no
insulation) at a much lower rotor speed than was believed possible." Their design is
based upon conducting spheres or cylinders rotating like eddy currents in a
conducting medium (also see page 126 of Sci, Amer,. "The Source of the Earth's
Magnetic Field," 1979).
My Experiment With Field Rotation
I'd like to mention that I have tried the experiment of rotating an 8" disk magnet on a
non-conductive (wood) disk within one centimeter of a copper disk (and vice versa),
along with the help of Dan Winter in Buffalo, NY (see Figure 6). We were unable to
find an effect of rotating a symmetric magnetic field on the output voltage though we
didn't look at the output current which is what Dr. Tesla is referring to.
278
Figure 6. Dragged rotating field experiment.
Here, it is important to also note experiments (described in my book) by Cramp and
Norgrove (1936) and Das Gupta (1963) which have failed to find any torques on a
non-conductive magnet adjacent to a conductive disk carrying current. In fact,
several scientists have proposed, as Mr. Klicker mentioned at the Tesla 1986
Conference, that no experiment can resolve whether the magnetic field is rotating if
it is symmetric. However, this may not have a bearing on the phenomena that Tesla
is talking about concerning the "dragging" of the field, since he concentrates on the
spiraling currents.
Removing The External Magnetic Field
The next part of Dr. Tesla's article proposes that in a solid disk, as described above,
we may be able to find that the field magnet may be removed while the generator
disk is kept rotating. Tesla suggests that, due to favorable eddy currents, the entire
generator may continue to function and even increase in output when the speed is
increased, forming a fascinating "current accumulator."
To return to the principal subject; assume the conditions to be such that the
eddy currents generated by the rotation of the disc strengthen the field, and
suppose the latter gradually removed while the disc is kept rotating at an
increased rate. The current, once started, may then be sufficient to maintain
itself and even increase in strength, and then we have the case of Sir William
Thomson's "current accumulator." But from the above considerations it would
seem that for the success of the experiment the employment of a disc not
subdivided would be essential, for if there should be a radial subdivision, the
eddy currents could not form and the self-exciting action would cease. If such
a radially subdivided disc were used it would be necessary to connect the
spokes by a conducting rim or in any proper manner so as to form a
symmetrical system of closed circuits ...
279
In the next illustration (Figure 7), we see a suggestion for giving the disk, an
additional push from the generated currents by leading them through conductors that
pass into coils. Here, the coils then encounter a reverse polarity magnetic field
which tends to give the coils a small amount of push. This effect may not work at all
but tends to lead the reader into thinking about curving the generated currents to an
advantage.
Figure 7. Possible enhancement to give discs an additional "push."
Sub-Dividing The Disk
The suggestion of sub-dividing the disk is now discussed, in order to "do away with
the field coils" entirely! As illustrated in Figure 8, sub-dividing the disk spirally
(actually cutting the disk in radial directions that spiral outward) tends to create a
self-generated magnetic field.
... But a unipolar dynamo or motor, such as shown in Fig 292, may be excited
in an efficient manner by simply properly subdividing the disc or cylinder in
which the currents are set up, and it is practicable to do away with the field
coils which are usually employed. Such a plan is illustrated in Fig. 295. The
disc or cylinder D is supposed to be arranged to rotate between the two poles N
and S of a magnet, which completely cover it on both sides, the contours of the
disc and poles being represented by the circles d and d' respectively, the upper
pole being omitted for the sake of clearness. The cores of the magnet are
280
supposed to be hollow, the shaft C of the disc passing through them. If the
unmarked pole be below, and the disc be rotated screw fashion, the current will
be, as before, from the centre to the periphery and may be taken off by suitable
sliding contacts, B B', on the shaft and periphery respectively. In this
arrangement the current flowing through the disc and external circuit will have
no appreciable effect on the field magnet.
But let us now suppose the disc to be subdivided spirally, as indicated by the
full or dotted lines, Fig. 295. [Fig 8; ed. note] The difference of potential
between a point on the shaft and a point on the periphery will remain
unchanged, in sign as well as in amount...
We note here that in AC induction motors, eddy currents have to be controlled by
laminating the core to obtain a reasonable efficiency, which demonstrates the same
principle. As the illustration shows, the dotted path of radial current generation is
the preferred path of current that suffers the standard "back torque" and goes in the
opposite direction to the rotation of the disk in a usually successful attempt to slow it
sown. (My generator slowed down from hack torque rather well, to my disappointment.) However, if the disk is subdivided in the solid line manner, the current
generated will now enhance the magnetic field (since rotating currents generate
magnetic fields).
Figure 8. Spiral Disc Detailed.
At this point I would like to propose that the etched disk for sale
Research Foundation, in the pattern of a golden mean spiral, may be
unipolar generator for the Tesla experiment proposed.
Of course, as Figure 8 shows, we may use an external spiral or coil
disk to obtain a similar effect. Note the similarity between this drawing
one (from Scientific American) which is a model for the earth's core.
by Borderland
an interesting
encircling the
and the first
Forbes Dynamo
The Forbes dynamo is now discussed, from Figure 4, which seems to be simply a
very efficient homopolar generator modified with two disks for higher voltage. For
that example, Tesla proposes using the external coil but also a conductive belt, in
281
what turns out to be a very innovative idea for increasing conductivity and
decreasing resistance of the dynamo. The current is thus extracted only from the
shafts of both generators.
... Instead of subdividing the disc or cylinder spirally, as indicated in Fig. 295, it
is more convenient to interpose one or more turns between the disc and the
contact ring on the periphery, as illustrated in Fig. 296. [Fig 8; ed. note]
A Forbes dynamo may, for instance, be excited in such a manner. In the
experience of the writer it has been found that instead of taking the current from
two such discs by sliding contacts, as usual, a flexible conducting belt may be
employed to advantage, The discs are in such case provided with large flanges,
affording a very great contact surface. The belt should be made to bear on the
flanges with spring pressure to take up the expansion. Several machines with
belt contact were constructed by the writer two years ago, and worked
satisfactorily; but for want of rime the work in that direction has been
temporarily suspended. A number of features pointed out above have also been
used by the writer in connection with some types of alternating current motors.
Noting that his work on these generators has been suspended in the recent past, Tesla
abruptly ends a most entertaining article unequalled in all of the homopolar
literature. [Note: More information on Forbes and his dynamo can be found in
Robert Belfield's article, Jour. IEEE, Sept. 1976, p.344.]
Relative Motion
In order to help some researchers distinguish between what they believe is true for
the linear motion and what really happens on a rotating disk, I have included a
couple of charts, not published previously. In Figure 9, we see the left hand column
contains some major aspects of rectilinear motion taken from a classical physics text.
On the right is my rotational analog to each of the same experiments, i.e., rotate the
magnet (+) but not the meter (-) nor the disk(-), etc. Notice that the results are the
same whether we rotate the magnet or not (to the best of our knowledge).
282
Figure 9. Comparison between linear and rotational motion.
The only debatable part comes when we rotate the meter and the disk with or without
the magnet rotating. Here if we ask about an "emf" or electromotive force, we know
that here is one present (yes), or if we ask if there is a nonuniform charge density, we
answer yes, but if we ask about "voltage", the reaction of a meter, in the rotating
frame, we have to answer no. (I placed a small, specially designed voltmeter on the
disc to test this unusual effect.)
The Relativity Comparison Table is a comparison between linear and circular motion
in a more theoretical fashion. Notice the many differences present for any rotating
object.
My $1000 Homopolar Generator
When I came back, from California in 1980, after a trip exploring the $25,000
generator that Bruce DePalma had built at the Sunburst Community (now called The
Builders); I was determined to build one myself. This evolved into a Master's
Degree project for the Physics Department at Buffalo's State University, Thanks to
Erie Community College, I was able to test it at the school, in one of the labs.
In Figure 10, we see the results of a typical run. At the top, the trial was performed
with the circuit closed, generating about 380 Amps and the DC motor demanding
266 Watts. Note the slowdown time here was about 0.57 minutes. Next, at the
bottom, we see the test run with the circuit open, generating just voltage. Here the
motor demand lessened to 249 Watts. Note the slowdown time is now longer (0.64
minutes) showing less "resistance" with the lack of back torque. The last verification
of this analysis is the comparison of generated power (about 25 Watts) and the
difference in the motor demand (about 17 Watts in this case). They are about the
same.
283
Figure 10. Current run charts for the $1000 generator.
In Figure 11, we see the results of another trial. Here the generated power and the
difference in the motor demand was even closer ~ less than 1 Watt between them.
Quantitatively and qualitatively we see evidence for the existence of back torque in a
one-piece Faraday generator. The output of the generator tended to be compensated
by the increase in the motor demand for power from the batteries.
284
Figure 11. Additional run charts.
We know that a decrease in resistance of the system, from 1 milliohm down to about
1 microhm (recommended by Adam Trombly) would improve the performance.
Also some of the design ideas of Tesla's would also contribute to a more
self-sustaining generator.
The last few figures show various pictures of my generator. They are the best photos
of my large generator with 8" ceramic magnets. For more information, including a
complete copy of the Trombly-Kahn patent application, I would recommend my
book. The One-Piece Faraday Generator.
285
Figure 12. Homopolar generator - nonrotating.
Background: Digital Frequency Counter, Oscilloscope, Power Supply for
Circuit
Foreground: DC Motor, 2 Variacs for Heaters, 3 Digital Voltmeters.
Figure 13. Homopolar generator - front
2500 Ampere 50 millivolt current shunt.
286
view
exposing
the
General
Electric
F'igure 14. Homopolar generator with strip chart recorder shown on left.
Figure 15. Homopolar generator - rotating.
Square wave on Oscilloscope is the photocell circuit output.
287
Figure 16. Homopolar generator - Metal arm at top holds photocell close to
rotating magnet assembly. A strip of aluminum foil has been attached at
the top of the magnets, covering half of the circumference for reflection of
light into photocell.
About The Author:
Thomas F. Valone holds a MA in Physics.
I984;a BS in Physics and BSEB. State University of NY at Buffalo, 1974. Tom is a Professor of Physics and Electronics at Erie Community
College
in
Buffalo,
NY,
a
Professional
Engineer, and President of his own company,
Integrity
Electronics
&
Research.
His
company is engaged in computer sales and specialized
instrument
manufacture.
Tom
has
been
involved
in
non-conventional
energy
research
for
the
past
ten
years.
He
established
his
prominence
in
this
field
by
beginning
an
investigation
into
a
non-conventional
energy
generator
in
1979,
as
part
of
a
Master's
Degree program at the State University
This information and picture was accurate back in
1986. The author can be reached at iri@erols.com
and www.integrityresearchinstitute.org
288
289
290
291
292
293
19 Bibliography of Tesla Resources
Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla
Dr. Marc Siefer
Lightning in His Hand: The Life Story of Nikola Tesla
Inez Hunt & W. Draper
My Inventions : The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla; Ben Johnston, Editor
Tesla
Tad Wise
Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla (hardcover)
Nikola Tesla; Thomas Commerford Martin, Editor
Nikola Tesla: Lecture Before The New York Academy of Sciences, April 6, 1897
Tesla Presents Series Part 2
Nikola Tesla; Leland I. Anderson, Editor
High Frequency Oscillators for Electro-therapeutic and Other Purposes
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents and Their Application to Wireless
Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power
Tesla Presents Series Part 1
Nikola Tesla; Leland I. Anderson, Editor
Nikola Tesla: Guided Weapons & Computer Technology (hardcover & paperback)
Tesla Presents Series Part 3
Nikola Tesla; Leland I. Anderson, Editor
Nikola Tesla's Teleforce & Telegeodynamics Proposals
Limited Edition
Tesla Presents Series Part 4
319
Nikola Tesla; Lelaland I. Anderson Editor
Colorado Springs Notes, 1899-1900 (hardcover)
Nikola Tesla; Commentary by Aleksandar Marincic
Dr. Nikola Tesla - Complete Patents
Nikola Tesla; Compiled by John T. Ratzlaff
Dr. Nikola Tesla - Selected Patent Wrappers, 4 volume set (spiral)
Nikola Tesla; Compiled by John T. Ratzlaff
Tesla Said
Nikola Tesla; Compiled by John T. Ratzlaff
Solutions to Tesla's Secrets
Nikola Tesla; Compiled by John T. Ratzlaff
Thomas Bearden
The Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires
Nikola Tesla
Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla & David Childress
Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents and Their Application
to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power
Tesla Presents Series, Part 1.
Leland I. Anderson
Nikola Tesla: Lecture Before the New York Academy of Sciences - April 6,
1897 : The Streams of Lenard and Roentgen and Novel Apparatus for Their
Production
Tesla Presents Series, Part 2
Leland I. Anderson
xix, 123 pages, illustrated, indexed.
ISBN 1-893817-01-6 $12.95
Nikola Tesla: Guided Weapons & Computer Technology
Tesla Presents Series, Part 3
Leland I, Anderson, ed.
xv, 241 pages, illustrated, indexed, hardcover & paperback.
ISBN 0-9636012-5-3, 0-9636012-9-6
Nikola Tesla's Teleforce & Telegeodynamics Proposals
Tesla Presents Series, Part 4
viii, 119 pages, illustrated, indexed.
ISBN 0-9636012-8-8
Tesla Coil Builder's Guide to the Colorado Springs Notes of Nikola Tesla
Second Edition
320
321
Tcsla websites for books, information and tapes
http://www.tfcbooks.com
http://www.teslamemorialsociety.org/videos.htm
http://www.netsense.net/tesla/
http: //www.yurope. com/org/tesla/
http://www.nickf.com/tesla.htm
http://www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdan/tesla/mdex.htm
http://www.mall-usa.com/BPCS/tesla.html
http: //www. pbs.org/tesla
322
20
Glossary of Tesla Terms
Excerpt adapted from "Project Insight: A Study of Tesla's Advanced Concepts," H. W. Jones,
Proceedings of the Tesla Centennial Symposium, 1984
Advanced Concepts - Those ideas which Tesla was known to have conceived and
developed to some extent, but did not pursue to fruition because of lack of funding and
laboratory facilities. The more dramatic of these concepts were: free energy, wireless
transmission of energy, employment of scalar technology, non-Hertzian waves, the Tesla
shield, the Tesla ray.
Ball Lightning - A form of lightning in which a slow-moving, extremely high temperature
sphere forms. Only rarely seen in nature, but producible by artificial means. Currently being
used in the study of harnessing fusion energy for commercial use. See Robert Golka articles.
DeBroglie Wave - The quantum mechanics wave associated with a particle of matter
which can theoretically give rise to intra-atomic interference effects. In his speech accepting
the Nobel Prize, DeBroglie emphasized that these waves are real and must not be regarded
simply as mathematical oddities or conveniences.
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) - A sharp pulse of energy and electromagnetic radiation
occurring when an explosion occurs in an unsymmetrical envrionment. Tesla theorized that an
EMP would result when two longitudinal scalar electrostatic potential wave patterns met and
coupled into a flash of vector electromagnetic energy. See early Tom Bearden articles.
Electromagnetic Theory (EM) - Conventional electrical theory currently taught in our
educational system, mainly giving credit only to Hertz, Maxwell, and Faraday. Tesla's work
challenged the adequacy of existing EM theory, as do many physicists today. EM theory is
only good for "far field" EM waves, as only electrical engineering EM textbooks (e.g. Magid)
will admit. The recommended physical perspective, is to ask whether we are within the "near
field," i.e., within the first couple of wavelengths. In this region, a capacitively-created EM
wave will still retain mainly electrical characteristics and can be stopped by a Faraday cage,
however, a inductively-created EM wave still still retain mainly magnetic characteristics and
go right through even the most expensive Faraday cage (made with Mu Metal) such as the
quarter-million dollar one at Wright-Patterson AFB. Especially when dealing with extremely
low frequency (ELF), most staunch EM theorists are stymied because we are always within
the near field with ELF waves. See Thomas Phipps, Heretical Verities book.
Electromagnetic Wave — A Hertzian wave. A wave that oscillates
transversely
rather
than
longitudinally, having electric (E) field and magnetic (B) field effects
(each may be detected). If two sine waves are pictured, perpendicular
to each other, one on the x-y plane (vertical) and the other on the x-z
plane (horizontal), both traveling in the x-direction, the E-field will be
designated by the x-y plane wave (if it is polarized light) and the Bfield will be the x-z plane wave. Polaroid® sunglasses work because
they only let the E-field light through if it is in the x-y plane, whereas any reflected glare will
have the E-field oscillating in the x-z plane (which is horizontal). Non-Hertzian waves are not
transverse and often occur because near field, distorted waves are created in the experiment.
Energy - The capacity to do work, which is the result of a force moving a mass through a
distance. Measured in "joules" it is the timeless version of power times time, such as kilowatthours (kWh), A energy conversion example is: 1 watt-hour = 3.4 British thermal unit (Btu),
which is used as a measure of heat energy, See zero-point energy.
Ether - (also aether) Simply stated, it is the same as the physical vacuum. This differs
from the common understanding of empty space, since theorists regard the ether (and t h e
physical vacuum) as having substance (and particles in negative energy states). With the
Silvertooth experiments, now showing a preference of direction for the old Michelson-Morley
type of experiment, the ether is coming back into vogue. Very compatible with Eastern
mysticism.
Free Energy - Energy which is free. Often confused with perpetual motion, free energy
has three aspects; 1) no cost for input; 2) plentiful and inexhaustible; 3) one-time capital
expenditure. Renewable energy is free energy, Zero point energy (ZPE) is also free and
equated with the ether. A prophetic endorsement for free energy comes from Tesla's comment
that "it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the
very wheelwork of nature." 1 He implies, what was discovered years later, that in open
systems, it appears that energy is not conserved (e.g. ZPE vacuum fluctuations), However, in
closed systems, we know that the second law of thermodynamics and energy conservation
laws apply. Compare with the physics definition G = H - TS where G is "Gibb's free energy,"
H is enthalpy, T is absolute temperature, and S is entropy. In words, free energy is the internal
energy of a system minus the product of its temperature and its entropy.
Gravity - The phenomenon characterized by the physical
attraction
of
any
two
material
bodies, defined as the product of the masses divided by the
square
of
the
distance
between
them. Today, physicists are surprised to find evidence of '
antigravity in the accelerated expansion of the distant
galaxies (Science, Dec. 18, 1998) which was called "the
breakthrough of the year." However, Tesla talked about
controlling gravity many times. The fact that gravity is
always attractive and never repulsive is a curiosity that
physicists have always wondered about. The fact that
gravity has to travel many times faster than light speed to
prevent aberrations has caused a lot of commotion. 2
NASA recently tested the Allais & Saxl experiments
during a solar eclipse, showing that there is a shielding
effect from the moon when aligned. 3 There are many
accepted modalities for creating artificial gravity and
antigravity
with
high
energy
electromagnetism. 4
book,
Causality,
Electromagnetic
Induction
and
by Dr. Oleg Jefimenko; Hunt for Zero Point by N. Cook
1
See
Gravity,
Nikola Tesla, addressing the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1891
Tom Van Flandern, "The Speed of Gravity - What the Experiments Say," Phys. Lett. A, 250,
1998, 1-11; also in Future Energy: Proc. of COFE, 1999,IRI
3
Saxl & Allais, "Observation of Periodic Phenomena with a Massive Torsion Pendulum," Report
#702, Integrity Research Institute (IRI)
2
324
4
"Antigravity Report: Collection of Seminal Articles for Futurists," Report #707, IRI
J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, Second edition, J. Wiley Pub., 1975. P.222
6
Ibid., p. 223
7
Dr. Jack Dea, "Instantaneous Interactions," Proc. ITS, 1986, p.4-34 and Raymond
Gelinas, "Curl-Free Vector Potential Effects," p. 4-43
5
325
Transverse Wave - A standard Hertzian EM vector wave which oscillates laterally, as
contrasted with a Tesla electrostatic scalar wave which vibrates longitudinally.
Vacuum - (See Ether.) A plenum which is filled
with particles in negative energy states. Dr. Paul Dirac
became a Nobel Prize winner for predicting the
existence of the positron (antimatter electron with
positive charge) after theorizing that under high
voltage circumstances, and electron-positron pair can
emerge, like magic, from the vacuum and go off in
opposite directions, Such experiments (shown here
with cloud chamber picture) have verified the vacuum
is teaming with activity. See zero-point energy.
Vector - A force or field that has magnitude and
direction, compared with scalar fields. EM waves are
vector fields and contain momentum.
Wardenclyffe - Name of the first transmission tower in the world, erected 1901-3 in
Shoreham, NY by Tesla which rose to a height of 187 feet, The Tesla Wardenclyffe Project,
Inc. is a firm dedicated to recovering the property for a commemorative site. Contact CEO,
Gary Petersen, POB 2001, Breckenridge, CO 80424
Zero-Point Energy - The energy of the vacuum that is sustained even at zero absolute
temperature and no air (complete vacuum). This is the "very wheelwork of nature" and even
implicated in the antigravity effect seen on the acceleration of distant galaxies (Science, Dec,
1998) The Casimir effect, experimentally verified, shows that virtual particles, as they emerge
from the vacuum, also exert a measurable force, Zero-point energy (ZPE) has so many
unusual characteristics that it forms the most intriguing field of study in physics today. It is
predicted that, since the ZPE Casimir force already exhibits perpetual wavy motion already in
nanotechnology (endless oscillations of nanostructures under tensile stress), we may soon see
a revolution in energy production that is fuelless, as Tesla predicted. Recently a vacuum
energy transducer was theoretically designed to contain a complete engine cycle with
electrical output. "Free energy" was also a phrase used by the JPL scientist, Dr. Pinto, in the
abstract of his corresponding journal article.9 See M. King books, Tapping the Zero Point
Energy and Quest for Zero Point Energy or "Zero Point Energy and the Future" Report #822.
IRI.
Further research information on all of the above-mentioned topics is available from the free
Future Energy newsletter and catalog from Integrity Research Institute, 202-452-7674 or 800
295-7674
8
Gu Hai-Cheng, et al., "Influence of Combination of Casimir Force and Residual Stress
on the Behaviour of Micro- and Nano-Electromechanical Systems," Chinese Phys. Lett.
June, 2002, p.832
9
F. Pinto, "Engine cycle of an optically controlled vacuum energy transducer," Physical
Review B, 60 (21) 14740, Dec. 1, 1999
326